South Korean stocks dipped nearly 3 percent Friday on the back of an overnight Wall Street plunge that was spurred by a bond yield hike. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 86.74 points, or 2.8 percent, to close at 3,012.95 points. Trading volume was high at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 21 trillion won ($18.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 729 to 153. Foreigners dumped a net 2.8 trillion won, institutions o

South Korea plans to sell 8 trillion won ($7.1 billion) worth of Treasury bills next month in a bid to fund its expansionary fiscal policy, the finance ministry said Friday. The bills, which have a maturity of 63 days, will be sold in five separate auctions in March, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. With the debt sale, the outstanding amount of Treasury bills is expected to rise to 15 trillion won next month. Treasury bills are usually floated to raise money to cover short-te

South Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo said Friday that it plans to set up an in-house committee focused on environmental, social and corporate governance. The brokerage house’s new agenda will be put to a vote at the upcoming shareholders meeting set for March 24. The decision came to reinforce the company’s practices in ESG management. To take the lead in being a socially responsible firm, the committee will handle decisions related to ESG issues and open the results to

South Korean banks' lending rates edged down in January amid a slight decline in deposit rates, central bank data showed Friday. The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.72 percent in January, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK cut the key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent in May last year after delivering an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point in March to cushion the

South Korean institutions' investment in foreign securities rose 12.8 percent on year in 2020 as global stocks rallied amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Friday. The combined value of foreign securities held by institutional investors came to $369.3 billion as of end-December last year, up $41.8 billion from a year ago, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The tally rebounded from a $9.5 billion fall in the first quarter when global financial markets were hit by the fallo

South Korea's finance minister voiced hope on Friday that the start of the country's COVID-19 vaccine program will help people return to normal lives and give a boost to an economic recovery. Earlier in the day, more than 5,000 health care workers and patients aged under 65 at some 5,800 long-term care facilities across the nation began receiving the first doses of novel coronavirus vaccines. "I believe that the onset of the COVID-19 inoculation will give a precious boost to helping peopl

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea rose 15 percent in January from a year earlier on improved demand despite the coronavirus pandemic, an industry association said Friday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles rose to 436 units last month from 379 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. Robust demand for tractors, dump trucks and special-purpose trucks gave a boost to the monthly result, i

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it plans to purchase as much as 7 trillion won ($6.2 billion) worth of government bonds in the first half of this year as it seeks to stabilize bond markets. The plan is aimed at easing volatility of bond yields because the government's issuance of bonds is expected to significantly increase, the BOK said in a statement. The minimum size of the bond purchase plan will be 5 trillion won, the BOK said. South Korea has increased sales of state debts to cushi

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Friday, tracking an overnight Wall Street plunge that was spurred by a bond yields hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 84.03 points, or 2.71 percent, to 3,015.66 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks deepened losses as investor worries grew globally over post-pandemic inflation, heralded by a bond yields hike. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.52 percent, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Ind

‘Innovative’ S. Korean companies are ready to scale up to become global, NYSE executive says

South Korean stocks sharply rebounded to surge more than 3 percent Thursday as the US Federal Reserve chairman's comments soothed inflation worries. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 104.71 points, or 3.5 percent, to close at 3,099.69 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.9 trillion won ($15.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 807 to 80. Foreigners bought a net 968 billion

Turnover for tours, culture plunges 70-94 percent in a year

South Korea said Thursday it plans to suspend the operations of more coal-powered plants during spring time in line with its efforts to cut the emissions of fine dust. Under the plan, the country plans to halt the operation of 19 to 28 coal plants in March depending on the electricity demand, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It will mark a sharp rise from nine to 17 plants suspended over the December-January period. The country's fine dust emissions from coal-powered pl

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki plans to attend a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major economies this week to discuss ways to tackle the pandemic, the finance ministry said Thursday. The meeting, to be chaired by Italy, will be held virtually Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. G-20 financial chiefs and leaders of international organizations will discuss ways to strengthen policy coordination to cope wi

Central bank calls vaccination determining factor for economic growth