South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as institutional buyers scooped up large-cap tech shares, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 17.05 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,360.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Wall Street stocks finished lower Friday (local time), with the S&P 500 shedding 0.2 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbling 0.6 percent.Most large caps on the Seoul bourse opened higher, with tech shares leading the gain. Market bell

South Korea's stock market volatility is expected to grow early this week ahead of the so-called quadruple witching day that comes on top of escalating geopolitical tensions here, analysts said Monday.The third quadruple witching day of the year, which falls on Thursday, may prompt local brokerage houses and foreign investors to rush to take profits through computer-based program trading, making the market more volatile, they said."Quadruple witching" refers to the simultaneous expirat

Foreign investors hold more than half of electric and electronics shares listed on South Korea's main stock market, data showed Monday.Foreign ownership of those stocks traded on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index market came to 51.2 percent of their total market capitalization as of Wednesday, the highest among all industrial sectors, according to the data from the Korea Exchange.The communication sector came next with 44.8 percent, followed by the steel and metal industry with 37 percent. I

South Korea's wage increase rate has been halved after the 2008 global financial crisis that rocked the country, a market report showed Sunday.The findings released in the Bank of Korea's latest foreign economic focus report showed that average wage gains dropped to 3.4 percent in the 2014-2016 period from 7.3 percent tallied in 2001-2007.It cited a drop in overall labor productivity and general aging of the population as causing the decrease. Data showed that in the wake of the financial crisis

This is the 41st in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdThe blockbuster debut in July of Kakao Bank, an online-only bank launched by messaging app giant Kakao, has driven a surprising stock race among fintech companies listed on the nation’s stock market. And Minwise, a digital security service provider based in Seoul, has been one of a few beneficiaries. 　More than two years after going public on South Korea’s secondary bourse

INCHEON -- Trade ministers of 16 regional countries, including India and China, will meet in South Korea next month to discuss a regional mega free trade agreement, the Incheon Metropolitan City said Sunday. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a proposed open trade pact between 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six other countries with which ASEAN has free trade deals with.If the 16 countries agree to launch the regional FTA, it will form a huge ec

South Korea's financial regulator said Sunday it has asked private money lenders to voluntarily cut their combined volume of television ads by 30 percent during the second-half of this year. The tightened regulation is part of the Financial Services Commission's plan to curb speed loans at a time when the government is trying to tackle the rise in heavy debtors. In a statement, the regulator said it asked money lenders to show clearer warnings on potential defaults in their TV commercials. The F

Exports of South Korea's agricultural goods to China fell this year as diplomatic rows with its biggest trading partner deepen, a local agricultural agency said Sunday. The value of agricultural exports fell to $860 million in the January-August period from $920 million a year earlier. Exports to China accounted for 14.4 percent of all outbound shipments from 16.6 percent during the same period, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.The slump came as Chinese consumers opted

South Korea's super rich, who make up the top 1 percent of the population, own on average 6.5 homes, while half of the people don't own their own houses, government data showed Sunday.The findings submitted by the tax office and ministry of interior to ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Kwang-on showed the number of homes the rich owned jumped twofold in the past nine years."The richest 139,000 people owned 906,000 homes last year," the official numbers showed. The total value of th

South Korea's central bank chief has left for Switzerland to attend a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday.   BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol also plans to discuss with his counterparts from major and emerging economies, global economic and financial market conditions, according to the bank.    Lee is set to return home Tuesday.   The BIS is an international financial institution that serves as a bank for central banks, providi

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde expected Friday South Korea's economy will continue to grow stably despite security risks stemming from North Korea, the foreign minister here said after their meeting in Seoul.   Top diplomat Kang Kyung-wha met Lagarde to discuss the economy of South Korea and the world as well as the country's cooperation with the IMF.     "Lagarde shared the point that South Korea's stable economic growth will be sustained in sp

South Korea’s publicly offered overseas investment funds have recently reverted back to the popularity they enjoyed in the early 2000s, due to tax benefits and higher returns, data showed Friday.According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the total net worth of these funds stood at 39.4 trillion won ($35 billion) as of Tuesday this week. This marked the first time in six years that the figure inched up toward the 40 trillion won mark.The figure has remained below the given mar

　A number of German investors in Korea have voiced skepticism regarding the new Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth economic policies, and to what extent it will lead to increased labor productivity while adding fiscal burdens for businesses.　More than 100 representatives of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry member companies gathered together in Seoul last week for the KGCCI half-year economic outlook seminar, according to the chamber’s statement on Thursd

A bipartisan group of American lawmakers Thursday urged President Donald Trump to keep the US free trade agreement with South Korea amid a deepening security crisis on the Korean Peninsula.In a letter addressed to the president, four co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Korea underscored the importance of a tight alliance in the wake of North Korean provocations, including its sixth nuclear test Sunday.Trump was earlier reported to be planning a withdrawal from the five-year-old trade pact.

‘Closing gender gap in labor market could become economic game-changer in Asia’