The first-ever bitcoin future began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major US exchange.  The futures contract that expires in January rose $340 to $15,800 in the first hour and 15 minutes of trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The contract opened at $15,460, according to data from the CBOE.The CBOE futures don't involve actual bitcoin. They're securities that will track the price of bitcoin on Gemini, one of the larger bitcoin exchan

Foreign investors continued their net buying of South Korean stocks in November, with the amount reaching nearly 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion), the financial regulator said Monday.Offshore investors bought a net 1.86 trillion won last month, marking the second consecutive month of net buying, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Net purchases by investors from the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Norway reached 1 trillion won, 900 billion won and 500 billion won, respectivel

South Korea will strengthen oversight of local financial groups as part of its effort to better check the sector, the state regulator said Sunday.The Financial Services Commission said it will set a so-called financial group innovation body that will begin work on Monday. The special body will be made up of two teams that will be tasked with monitoring such matters as ownership structure risks, capital adequacy, internal trading bans and emergency contingency plans.The newly formed entity, which

South Korea's economy is expected to expand 3.1 percent this year on the back of solid worldwide growth, a local think tank said Sunday.The forecast marks a 0.4 percentage-point increase from estimates made two months earlier, Hyundai Research Institute said.The leading private think tank said it has marked up growth forecasts for 2018 by 0.3 percentage point to 2.8 percent."Growth is being fueled by a general economic recovery taking place all over the world," HRI said. It said expect

This is the 46th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.A tax cut in the US and the strong Korean won has negatively affected a tech rally on South Korean stock markets in the past couple of weeks. The Kosdaq-listed light-emitting diode maker Seoul Semiconductor was no exception, as its share price hit a record 33,550 won on Nov. 27, but backtracked to 28,250 won on Friday, falling 13.1 percent over the past two weeks.But some analysts pai

South Korea’s household debt-to-gross domestic product increased at the second-fastest rate in the world on-year as of first half of this year, reports said Sunday, quoting data from Bank for International Settlement. According to survey of 43 countries conducted by BIS, Korea‘s ratio of total household credit-to-GDP came to 93.8 percent as of the second quarter of 2017, up 4.3 percentage points year-on-year. The data by Basel-based financial institution was released on Dec. 3.T

Foreign investors offloaded 2.12 trillion won ($1.93 billion) worth of shares traded on South Korea's main bourse in the last two weeks, the Korea Exchange said Sunday.The stock market operator said foreigners sold off many more shares than they bought in the 10 trading days starting from Nov.27 through Friday. The selling of shares on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index outpaced the buying of 1.72 trillion won worth of stocks by local institutional investors.In the past two weeks, foreign inv

South Korea maintains the second-largest coal subsidies in the world, as other countries move to cut state support for such energy programs, a report by an autonomous intergovernmental organization said Sunday.The latest findings released in the 2017 World Energy Outlook by the Paris-based International Energy Agency showed Seoul spent $150 million to subsidize the coal sector in 2016.Energy-related subsidies are paid by the state to producers and consumers to bolster industries and make energy

South Korea's central bank expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise its key interest rates two or three times next year, in line with a broader expectation on Wall Street, according to a report by the Bank of Korea on Saturday. The Fed is widely expected to raise rates during its policy meeting next week, as it has begun increasing borrowing costs from record lows set in the wake of the 2008-09 global financial crisis. On Dec. 1, the Bank of Korea increased its key rate by a quarter percen

South Korea is studying ways to regulate speculative trading in crypto currencies as the latest surge in prices stokes a craze over bitcoins. The country's financial regulator said Friday that it has ruled out using bitcoin for derivative products. The decision effectively bans investing in bitcoin futures that will start trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange this weekend. It's part of a backlash against digital currencies in some Asian countries, even as Japan embraces their use. I

Ahead of trade revision talks between Seoul and Washington over the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, the US Chamber of Commerce has launched a website highlighting the benefits of the KORUS deal. 　Since the Donald Trump administration announced its intent to amend the five-year-old bilateral trade deal earlier this year, representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce have publicly voiced opposition against altering terms of the FTA, saying, “The KORUS agreement is working.” 　&ldquo

South Korea will engage in constant, pre-emptive, market-centered corporate restructuring going forward, breaking away from government-spearheaded responses to developments that have been the norm in the past, the country's chief economic policymaker sad Friday."The government will reshape its corporate restructuring paradigm in a way that can prod existing companies to seek innovation and strengthen their competitiveness," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at an economy-related mini

The South Korean economy is maintaining its current recovery pace on the back of strong overseas sales, although there are some downside risks, such as North Korea's provocations and ongoing trade issues, a government report said Friday."The South Korean economy is keeping its recovery pace, aided by robust exports in line with the improving global economy," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report. "For the time being, its recovery pace is expected to co

The government on Wednesday lashed back at the European Union’s decision to list South Korea as a tax haven, claiming the inclusion infringes on international standards and poses the risk of violating the country‘s taxation sovereignty.“We have violated none of the standards suggested by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or other international regulations,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told reporters. On the previou

South Korea's main stock index tumbled Wednesday as foreign investors remained net sellers of stocks, with sentiment soured over geopolitical worries in the Middle East. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 35.75 points, or 1.42 percent, to close at 2,474.37. Trade volume was moderate at 503 million shares worth 6.56 trillion won ($6 billion). The local stock market opened lower as investors took their cues from overnight declines on Wa