Korea’s benchmark Kospi rose 3.1 percent, recovering past the 1,900 mark Friday as investors went mining higher-risk stocks on hope of curving the peak of the novel coronavirus with a drug developed for ebola virus treatment.  The local currency closed at 1,217.90 won against the US dollar, strengthening 10.80 won from the previous session’s close.  The benchmark bourse Kospi opened slightly up, at 1,893.31 -- rising 44.15 points, or 2.38 percent, from the previous sess

South Korea’s central bank’s unprecedented decision to extend loans to brokerages and other nonbanking institutions will help them avoid the worst amid an economic crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus, experts said Friday. The Bank of Korea announced Thursday that it planned to launch a special loan program worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion), which would allow local banks, brokerages and insurers to borrow funds for up to six months against collateral from the central bank

With the real economy facing the full impact of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the South Korean government is rolling up its sleeves to boost the nation’s job market. At a meeting with economy-related ministers, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the government would roll out a set of support measures for the job market next week. “The government will announce a package of measures to stabilize employment in South Korea after talking closely with related ministries and

Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea plummeted in the first quarter, as lingering coronavirus concerns in global stock markets slashed demand, data showed Friday. ELS products issued in January-March stood at 21 trillion won ($17.2 billion), down 38.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). ELS refers to hybrid debt securities whose returns are determined by the performance of underlying equities, including a stock

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 44.6 points, or 2.4 percent, to reach 1,901.67 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Thursday (local time), US stocks closed higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing 0.14 percent and the S&P 500 up 0.58 percent. The Nasdaq increased 1.66 percent. Large-cap shares on the Seoul bourse were trading in positive terrain. Top cap

South Korea and China agreed Friday to expand joint efforts to tackle the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic and maintain the global supply chain. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo held a videoconference with his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan to discuss ways to expand their economic ties amid the challenging business environment sparked by the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, South Korea said its carmakers were able to promptl

The coronavirus pandemic has battered South Korea's domestic demand, job market and exports, with uncertainties from the highly contagious virus still expanding, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly report, called Green Book, the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a bleaker picture of the economic impact from the virus pandemic compared with its March report. "With domestic consumption continuing to shrink, employment indices sharply declined and uncertainties surrounding

South Korea reported its first on-year job loss since 2009 in March as the coronavirus pandemic began inflicting damage on the job market, data showed Friday. The nation lost about 195,000 jobs last month, marking the sharpest monthly decline since May 2009, when it lost some 240,000 jobs, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point on-year, but the number of employed people fell to 26.6 million in March, according to the data compi

South Korea’s central bank has decided to launch a new loan program for brokerages, temporarily broadening its range of collateral to corporate bonds, officials said Thursday. The move aims to provide cushion for the local market, which has been struggling to deal with the economic fallout of the new coronavirus. Under the program worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion), local brokerages and nonbanking financial institutions including brokerages and insurers will be allowed to borrow funds

Meritz Securities paid the highest average remuneration among financial companies last year, industry data showed Thursday. According to online job information provider Saramin, the average annual paycheck of employees at the company stood at 130 million won ($105,940), outrunning the industry average of 96 million won. The data was compiled on the annual reports of 26 commercial banks, life insurance companies, reinsurers and brokerage houses. Local reinsurer Korean Re ranked second with 12

Local market less affected by COVID-19 pandemic fallout

Financial group realizes profits by selling potential COVID-19 solution maker

The value of land owned by foreign nationals here came to 30.8 trillion won ($25.1 billion) last year, and accounted for 0.2 percent of the nation’s total area, government data showed Thursday. Foreign land ownership in South Korea as of end-2019 rose 3 percent from a year earlier in terms of area, with the aggregated total at 248.7 square kilometers, according to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The corresponding area is equivalent to 0.2 percent o

Seoul stocks ended flat on Thursday, unchanged from a session earlier, as institutions and individuals' buying offset foreign selling. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended flat to close at 1,857.07. Trading volume was moderate at 864.4 million shares worth 10.52 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 452 to 401. The main index closed unchanged after US shares fell overnight following the International Mon

The South Korean economy shows signs of a "deepening contraction" as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures have halted global businesses and ravaged consumer demand, a state-run think tank said Thursday. "The Korean economy is showing a deepening contraction and mounting uncertainties as COVID-19 spreads," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication. South Korea's overall industrial output contracted the