The value of stocks traded on South Korea's main bourse has reached an all-time high on the back of a recent market rally, data showed Thursday. The market capitalization of listed companies in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to a new high of 2,220.7 trillion won ($1.99 trillion) as of Wednesday, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. The amount was about 8 trillion won more than the previous record posted on Jan. 25. The country's main stock market has been bullish with the benchm

Foreign bank branches in South Korea saw their combined net profit rise 28.6 percent in 2020 from a year earlier on a modest gain in interest income, data showed Thursday. The combined net income of 36 foreign lenders' local branches stood at 1.15 trillion won ($1.03 billion) last year, up 255.7 billion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The increase was mainly attributable to marked growth in their income from foreign exchange and der

Shares of Namyang Dairy Products, one of South Korea’s major dairy firms, soared in intraday trading on Wednesday as the company claimed that its own yogurt lineup Bulgaris can reduce the infection risk of COVID-19. The dairy company’s shares once spiked up 28.68 percent to 489,000 won ($437.39) in the early morning trading session, but plunged 5.13 percent to close at 360,500 won. Within some 20 minutes after the opening bell, its preferred stocks also shot up by a daily permiss

South Korean stocks closed a tad higher to extend their winning streak to a third day Wednesday as investor sentiment was boosted by the country's better-than-expected jobs data, coupled with overnight rallies on Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 13.3 points, or 0.42 percent, to finish at 3,182.38. Trading volume was moderate at 1.7 billion shares worth 15.3 trillion won ($13.7 billion), with gai

The price of a bitcoin hit another record high, both in local and global exchanges, buoyed by the expectation for the highly anticipated public listing of US crypto exchange Coinbase Global. Bitcoin prices rose to above 82 million won ($73,000) on domestic exchanges early Wednesday, while the coin’s price on overseas exchanges reached new heights at $63,742 per unit. The prices for Ethereum, the second-largest digital coin by market capitalization, also touched its highest points, risin

A looming legal battle between a top insurance firm and an issuer of derivative-linked securities raises concerns over the financial product -- whose underlying asset, a trade finance fund, had deferred redemption. Samsung Life Insurance, which sold over 53 billion won ($47 million) worth of DLS products through a privately pooled fund, is awaiting court proceedings against NH Investment & Securities, the brokerage firm that issued the DLS for the seller, the company said Wednesday. A Sa

South Korea will review its post-pandemic fiscal policy as an economic recovery from the coronavirus outbreak will raise the need to normalize its expansionary fiscal spending, a senior government official said Wednesday. Second Vice Finance Minister Ahn Do-geol said the government's priority is placed on supporting an economic recovery with increased fiscal aid, but the country will also make efforts to enhance fiscal soundness in the face of the growing national debt. "There is a need t

Women accounted for merely 7 percent of the management boards of financial institutions in South Korea, despite making up nearly half the sector’s workforce, data submitted to a lawmaker showed Wednesday. The number of women who hold executive positions in 444 financial institutions stood at 358, or 7.4 percent of the entire executive pool of 4,855 as of end of last year, according to Financial Supervisory Service data submitted and distributed by the minor progressive Justice Party Rep.

Provincial bank-led financial institution JB Financial Group said Wednesday it had launched an intraboard committee responsible for making business decisions focused on environmental, social and corporate governance values.  As the top decision-making body for ESG management, the new committee will develop corporate strategies and policies regarding the incorporation of ESG criteria into the group’s business portfolios, while supervising ESG-related initiatives conducted by its af

South Koreans' overseas stock transactions touched a new high in the first quarter of the year on brisk investment in US tech firms, data showed Wednesday. Local investors' trading of overseas shares was valued at $128.51 billion in the January-March period, up 96.5 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). It represents the largest quarterly amount since data tracking began in 2011. The figure covers overseas stock purchases and sales

South Korean banks' household loans grew at a slower clip in March, while the growth of mortgage loans remained at a high level, central bank data showed Wednesday. The value of outstanding bank loans to local households came to 1,009.5 trillion won ($898.8 billion) as of end-March, up 6.5 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The February reading compares to a 6.7 trillion-won gain in February. The BOK said the rise in lending was mainly at

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products rose 8.9 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the 10th consecutive month of on-year gains, thanks to healthy global demand for chips and displays, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of ICT goods reached $17.41 billion last month, compared with $15.99 billion the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Last month, imports reached $10.93 billion, up 15.7 perc

Sales of South Korea's major fried chicken franchises jumped in 2020 as people resorted more to food delivery amid the coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Wednesday. Kyochon, the biggest franchise, saw its top line surging 17.8 percent on-year to 447.6 billion won ($398 million) last year, and sales of No. 2 BHC shot up 25.7 percent to 400.4 billion won. It marks the first time that sales of local chicken franchises have exceed the 400 billion-won mark. Kyochon's operating income climb

Transactions on mobile games in South Korea reached a record high in the first quarter of this year, data showed Wednesday, amid the pandemic-driven online gaming trend. Mobile game transactions stood at 1.66 trillion won ($1.48 billion) in the January-March period this year, compared with 1.48 trillion won the previous year, according to local mobile app tracker IGAWorks, which reviewed data from 40 million mobile devices running on Apple's iOS and Google's Android. IGAWorks said the endless

Liquor companies in South Korea performed poorly in 2020 as people consumed less alcohol due to the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Wednesday. Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., a major maker of beer and soju, a Korean distilled liquor, saw its sales shrink 7.7 percent on-year to 2.16 trillion won ($1.92 billion) last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Lotte Chilsung, also the country's leading beverage manufacturer, reported an operating income of 97.2 billion won