South Korean stocks ended lower on Monday as investors await first-quarter earnings results from this week amid signs of an easing in the global coronavirus spread. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 16.17 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 1,898.36. Trading volume was moderate at 1.1 billion shares worth 11.7 trillion won ($9.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 515 to 337. The main index declined on Monday after

South Korea’s financial institutions and authorities are in talks to create a bad bank to help companies recoup the losses from disgraced hedge fund Lime Asset Management, according to industry sources Monday. The Financial Supervisory Service held a closed-door meeting with 19 private financial institutions including commercial lenders Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank and securities firms Shinhan Investment and Daishin Securities to discuss details of the private bad bank, or an asset manage

Commercial lender Hana Bank and internet-only Kakao Bank said Monday they have updated their respective mobile services to help locals make international financial transactions amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Hana Bank has expanded the services of its foreigners-only mobile banking app to locals to help limit face-to-face interactions that is usually required when handling international wire services here. The Hana EZ app provides artificial intelligence and big data-based service

The government should take aggressive measures to prevent a possible jump in unemployment due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, a private think tank said Monday. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said it has proposed a list of 10 labor policy tasks to the labor ministry in an effort to keep the COVID-19 outbreak from sparking massive joblessness in the country. The policy recommendations includes the payment of unemployment benefits to furloughed workers for three months an

Seoul stocks opened higher Monday as signs of the easing spread of the new coronavirus helped ease investor concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.34 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,915.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the KOSPI ended up 3.1 percent to 1,914.53 amid hopes that the global coronavirus outbreak was peaking and will be slowing down. This week, investors will take a cue from companies' earnings results for the January-March perio

Air carriers stare at ABS headache as falling revenue may trigger demand for early repayment

Money floating around the South Korean stock market has reached a new record high amid a recent market recovery following a coronavirus-caused rout, data showed Monday. The amount of stock-related funds hit 141.79 trillion won ($116.5 billion) as of Tuesday, up nearly 24 percent from Jan. 20 when South Korea reported its first COVID-19 case, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The figure inched down to 141.73 trillion won two days later. Stock-related funds

Corporate governance reform will help local stock market rebound, according to expert

Rising number of young adults ‘not intending to seek jobs at all’

The number of fund managers in South Korea reached a new high in April, as the market appears to be recovering, data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of fund managers in 57 local asset management firms recorded 720, up 20 from the beginning of this year. The corresponding figure had marked the steepest rise from 2007 to 2012 when the nation saw a fund investment boom. The number of local fund managers climbed by more than 200 during the period

South Korea’s market volatility is likely to continue as initial public offering plans for April are slipping through the cracks amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to market watchers Sunday. Sencoretech, a Seoul-based engineering firm dedicated to manufacturing steel structures, has withdrawn its listing plan on Kosdaq, which could have raised at least 27.16 billion won ($22.32 million). “Due to the high volatility caused by COVID-19, we decided to cancel the remaining proce

1 in 8 economically active Koreans de facto jobless

South Korea will allow certain coronavirus-hit countries to postpone repayment of their debts until the end of this year, Seoul officials said. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday in a World Bank Development Committee videoconference that Korea would extend the repayment deadline for members of the Industrial Development Agency and for the world’s least developed countries, at the suggestion of the World Bank, to give them some financial breathing room. “South Korea support

South Korean stocks are expected to continue to build up gains next week, buoyed by hopes for the reopening of the US economy and the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,914.53 points on Friday, compared with 1,860.70 points from a week ago. The KOSPI started off on a weak note on Monday by dropping nearly 2 percent on COVID-19 woes before rebounding on Tuesday and Thursday. The market was closed on Wedn

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo, who chairs a fund management committee under the state-run National Pension Service, said Friday that the pension operator could take part in the domestic stock market more actively, if needed, to support market stability. “The NPS’ active intervention last month has helped stabilize the stock market,” said the health and welfare minister at a meeting in Seoul in the morning with members of the committee. “The pension fun