Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday following hotter-than-estimated US inflation data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 39.58 points, or 1.49 percent, to 2,610.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4 percent to 38,272.75, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.8 percent to 15,655.60. Investors have been expecting the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year amid hope for eased inflation. But January's

Major IT company NHN Corp. said Tuesday its net loss narrowed in 2023 from a year earlier thanks mainly to reduced costs. Net loss came to 9 billion won ($6.8 million) last year, compared with a 31.8 billion-won deficit a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 7.3 percent on-year to 2.26 trillion won, with operating income coming to 55.5 billion won, up 42.2 percent from the previous year. NHN said its mobile games division contributed stably to 2023 sales, and it post

Seoul shares closed higher for the third straight session Tuesday amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start easing due to continued disinflation. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 29.32 points, or 1.12 percent, to close at 2,649.64. Trade volume was moderate at 550.46 million shares worth 12.93 trillion won ($9.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 597 to 285. January's US consumer price index due later Tuesday is

Share of Koreans working over 50 hours down 75% in 20 years

A screen shows bitcoin trading at over 67 million won ($50,459) at local crypto exchange Bithumb's headquarters in southern Seoul, Tuesday. The price of bitcoin traded above $50,000 on Monday (US time) for the first time since December 2021, according to the US-based crypto exchange Coinbase. The sharp increase is assessed to have stemmed from a strong inflow of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds that directly hold bitcoin. The Korean price of bitcoin stood at 67.1 million won as of 2 p.m.,

South Korea's exports fell nearly 15 percent on-year in the first 10 days of February due mainly to fewer working days, but sales of semiconductors soared more than 40 percent, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments reached $15.01 billion in the Feb. 1-10 period, compared with $17.57 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports, however, increased 11.7 percent on-year to $2.31 billion. The number of working days came to 6.5 days duri

Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to start easing this year due to continued disinflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 33.23 points, or 1.27 percent, to 2,653.55 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investors await January's US inflation data due later in the day. The US consumer price index is expected to support the view that decelerating inflation will allow the US central bank to start cutting rates this year. In Seoul,

South Korea’s imports of Japanese seafood posted the biggest on-year decline last year since 2012, a year after the Fukushima nuclear accident, data showed. South Korea imported Japanese fish and shellfish worth a combined $151.9 million in 2023, down 12.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The drop was the biggest since 2012, when South Korea’s imports of Japanese seafood plunged 33.3 percent on-year due to safety concerns after the

Foreign investors have been racking up “underperforming shares” on the Kospi, Korea’s main bourse, backed by increased expectations of the government’s initiative to boost the local stock market. Since the government late last month vowed to come up with new measures to tackle the "Korea discount," offshore investors are increasingly flocking to invest in firms with low price-to-book ratios in anticipation of stock price recoveries. PBR is a metric used to compa

Foreign investors have been active in the South Korean stock market over the past two weeks, contributing to the recent rally in the main KOSPI index, data showed Sunday. Offshore investors scooped up a net total of 5 trillion won ($3.75 billion) worth of local shares from Jan. 29 to Feb. 8, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Over the same period, the KOSPI rose 5.71 percent to close at 2,620.32 points, while the financial authorities announced plans to boost undervalued stocks. Hyun

South Korea may face an outflow of foreign investment from its financial market should the widely anticipated US rate cuts be further delayed, according to a report Saturday. The report from the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF) noted that current conditions remained favorable for a steady rise in foreign investment, citing the upcycle in the semiconductor industry. "Favorable conditions for an inflow of foreign capital have been created for now, considering the shift in global

The government is not considering increasing cigarette prices despite falling tax revenue, according to officials Friday. Some media reports have raised the possibility of the government increasing cigarette prices after the April election as it has experienced a shortfall in tax revenue amid an economic slowdown. Last year, South Korea's total revenue, including tax gains, fell 77 trillion won ($57.9 billion), as tax gains fell 51.9 trillion won from a year earlier due mainly to weak corpo

South Korean stocks closed higher for a second consecutive session Thursday amid growing hopes of US rate cuts. The local currency slightly lost ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 10.74 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 2,620.32. Trade volume was heavy at 422.7 million shares worth 12.2 trillion won ($9.18 billion), with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 451 to 436. Foreign investors remained net buyers for a seventh consecutive session, net

DGB Daegu Bank, a regional lender, has sought regulatory approval for its transition to a commercial bank, with plans to commence nationwide operations as early as April. The bank's parent company, DGB Financial Group, on Wednesday announced it had applied with the Financial Services Commission to alter the banking subsidiary's status. If the lender gets the green light, it will mark the country's first new commercial bank since the establishment of the Peace Bank of Korea in 1992

First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byung-hwan (right) and Minister of State for Regulatory Reform of the United Kingdom Lord Dominic Johnson pose after signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the launch of a dialogue between the two governments to promote mutual investment expansion in London on Wednesday. The Korean ministry expected that the dialogue would serve as a channel for introducing investment opportunities from both countries and create a friendly investment environment. (The Ministry