South Korean stocks retreated Monday after choppy trading as rising bond yields continued to stoke concerns of earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.68 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 3,045.71 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.4 trillion won ($10.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 564 to 293. Foreigners sold a net 210 bil

Viva Republica, South Korea’s leading fintech startup, officially launched a mobile stock trading system Monday. Toss opened the service preliminarily a month ago for 640,000 preregistered users, about 70 percent of whom are in their 20s and 30s. The stock trading service, which aims to attract young and new investors with easy-to-use interfaces, is incorporated into Viva Republica’s payment app Toss. “We aim to provide a satisfying investment experience for new investors as

Despite the prolonged economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea is forecast to have reentered the list of the world’s 10 largest economies by nominal gross domestic product in 2020, data showed Monday.  Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s nominal GDP for last year was estimated at $1.624 trillion, which marked the ninth highest among 14 major countries, up two notches from the previous year, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

South Korea’s Woori Bank on Monday has decided to heed to the financial watchdog’s recommendation to compensate to end-investors who dealt with heavy losses due to the lender’s selling of funds tied to 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) misselling scandal involving now-defunct hedge fund Lime Asset Management. The nation’s fourth-largest commercial lender by total assets will provide 78 percent of total investments made by an 82-year old man -- whose investment had been fr

South Korea’s tax agency said Monday that it had caught more than 2,400 individuals who hid assets in virtual currencies to avoid taxation. The National Tax Service collected data from digital currency exchanges and caught 2,416 tax delinquents who had concealed assets through cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. The concealed assets totaled 36.6 billion won ($32.24 million), the officials said. The probe targeted people with over 10 million won in delinquent taxes, a

Schroders Korea said Monday it had pooled over 100 billion won ($88 million) from South Korean end-investors earlier this month through its fund product that is designed to hold a portfolio of its flagship global sustainable equity fund. This is the first to reach the milestone among Korean funds dedicated to foreign equities while taking environmental, social and governance factors into account, according to Schroders Korea. Schroders Korea has raised Koreans’ capital for th

South Korean brokerage firms saw their combined net profit jump 20.8 percent last year, thanks to a stock rally that helped them earn higher commission fees, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of 57 brokerages stood at 5.91 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in 2020, compared with a profit of 4.89 trillion won in 2019, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The combined brokerage fees stood at 13.6 trillion won in 2020, up 43.8 percent from a year ago. The brokerages

South Korea's exports of automobiles advanced 35 percent on-year in February, data showed Monday, as major trading partners gradually normalized their economic activities amid the virus pandemic. The country's outbound shipments of automobiles reached 161,886 units in February, compared with 123,022 units posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports also soared 47 percent to reach $3.5 billion. Over the first two months of 2020, th

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products jumped 11.5 percent on-year in February, rising for the ninth consecutive month on the back of strong overseas demand for chips and displays, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of ICT goods stood at $15.28 billion last month, the second-highest amount ever for February on record, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The country reached a record $15.68 billion in ICT exports for th

South Korea said Monday it will pump up efforts to smooth out volatility of the foreign exchange market and flows of foreign capital as rising US bond yields could increase market fluctuations. The country also saw the limited possibility of an acute outflow of foreign capital as its government bonds still offer higher returns than those of US Treasurys, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The finance ministry said the country's FX market and foreign currency liquidity conditions

South Korea's economy is estimated to have ranked 10th in the world in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. The nominal GDP of Asia's fourth-largest economy was estimated at $1.62 trillion last year, according to the data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD). The amount is larger than Russia's $1.40 trillion, Brazil's $1.39 billion and Australia's $1.33 trillion. The estimated 2020 GDP ranking is up two notches from a year earlier. South Korea's economy al

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Monday as rising bond yields continued to stoke concerns of earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 4.24 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,050.15 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Auto and financial stocks got off to a strong start, while techs slumped. Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 0.48 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.71 percent. Giant internet portal operator Naver t

South Korean companies, from startups to big companies, could benefit from Indonesia’s latest infrastructure initiatives and trade deals, the country’s ambassador to South Korea told The Korea Herald in a recent interview. The ambassador was referring to Indonesia’s first sovereign wealth fund worth $5 billion, to be managed by Indonesia Investment Authority. The first phase of the fund’s investment will focus on toll roads, airports and seaports, but the focus will b

Does Korea have stimulus capacity like US?

Trading volume of digital currencies exceeds that of Kospi’s