LONDON (AP) -- Global stock markets traded in narrow ranges Monday as investors awaited a key meeting of central bankers later this week and continued to monitor developments on the Korean peninsula.In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was steady at 7,326 while Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 12,132. France's CAC 40 was 0.3 percent lower at 5,100. U.S. stocks were poised for a similarly tepid opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures unchanged.On Mond

The need to finance President Moon Jae-in’s programs to expand welfare benefits and create more jobs is set to cut deeper into government infrastructure spending.The draft budget for next year, which Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon unveiled in a meeting with ruling party officials last week, calls for a 6.7 percent increase from this year to 427 trillion won ($375 billion). The increase rate would be the highest since 2009, when the national budget expanded 10.7 percent to fund stimulus mea

Mid-credit rate borrowers in Korea have been typically underserved, ostracized by conventional banks. Has K bank made difference?

Soaring credit-based loans are now believed to have been used to fill in the shortage of mortgage loans from govt. measures

Korea’s producer prices rose slightly, by 0.1 percent in July from the previous month, data by the Bank of Korea showed Monday. The first rebound in five months was driven by an increase in the prices of services and agricultural products and slower decline in prices of manufactured goods.The producer price index indicates future consumer inflation. It marked 101.84 in July.Compared to the same month last year, the index surged 3 percent, notching nine consecutive months of gains.

The South Korean economy will face some downside risks going forward due to possible labor strikes at local carmakers and a cooldown in the local property market, a vice finance minister said Monday."The economy is on an upside cycle for the most part. But the upturn is largely driven by robust overseas sales of semiconductors and brisk facility investment," Vice Finance Minister Ko Hyoung-kwon said in a press briefing in Sejong, an administrative city some 130 kilometers south of Seou

South Korean stocks closed lower Monday as foreigners and institutions scaled back on their stockholding on profit taking. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 3.37 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 2,355.00. Trade volume was moderate at 204.5 million shares worth 3.753 trillion won ($3.3 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 478 to 308.Institutions dumped a net 103.98 billion won worth of stocks and foreigners also sold a ne

Seoul is expected to play defense against the United States’ push to utilize the two nations’ upcoming special joint committee meeting to discuss possible amendments to the bilateral free trade agreements, by limiting talks regarding trade modifications, local experts said Monday.　The capital is gearing up to play host to a Korea-US Free Trade Agreement joint session at the request of the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, at the Lotte Hotel on Tuesday. Although the US Trade

South Korea will raise the monthly basic pension to 250,000 won ($219) in 2018 and to 300,000 won in 2021 in a bid to help buttress elderly people's income, the health ministry said Monday.Under the basic pension system introduced in July 2014, the government pays 200,000 won a month to every senior citizen belonging to the bottom 70 percent of the country's income bracket. The inflation-adjusted amount of basic pension was set at 206,050 won for a single elderly household this year. The Ministr

Global equity funds have posted a net outflow from South Korea for the first time in 32 weeks amid foreign investors' massive profit-taking, industry data showed Monday. Four international funds investing in South Korea withdrew a net 55 billion won ($48.3 million) from the local stock market in the week to Wednesday, according to the data by Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co. and global fund tracker Emerging Portfolio Fund Research.The equity funds, including US investment fund Global Emerging M

South Korea's producer prices rose slightly in July from a month earlier due to an increase in the prices of services and agricultural products, central bank data showed Monday.The producer price index -- a barometer of future consumer inflation -- reached 101.84 in July, up 0.1 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The BOK attributed the slight hike to a rise in the prices of services and agricultural products as well as a slowed decline in the p

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Monday that it has imposed a combined 43 billion won ($37.8 million) in fines on nine global auto shipping companies for bid rigging and price fixing.The Fair Trade Commission said the nine car carriers allegedly colluded to participate in auctions arranged by carmakers, including General Motors Co., Renault Samsung Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., between 2002 and 2012.The nine companies are Japan's Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Kawa

Samsung and two other leading family-controlled conglomerates in South Korea accounted for a big chunk of listed firms' first-half earnings, data showed Monday, pointing to a growing concentration of corporate income in a few titans.According to the data by the Korea Exchange, 29 listed units of Samsung, LG and SK groups posted a combined net income of 35.61 trillion won ($31.2 billion) in the January-June period, up a whopping 90.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.The amount took up

South Korean shares extended losses late Monday morning as foreigners dumped more local stocks on profit-taking. The won traded higher against the dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 4.02 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,354.35 as of 11:20 a.m.Foreigners sold a net 42 billion won ($37 million) worth of stocks. Institutions also offloaded 26 billion won worth of shares, to weigh down the main index. A strong rally in the KOSPI index is not expected this week as investor

Credit loans extended by the nation's five major banks jumped in the first 15 days of August, official data showed Monday, due apparently to government measures that tightened mortgage lending rules. South Korea tightened rules for home mortgages from Aug. 2 to rein in rapidly growing household debt and curb property speculation. As of last Wednesday, the outstanding balance of credit loans by the five retail banks, including KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, stood at 93.1 trillion won ($81.8 bi