South Korean stocks are expected to continue to build up gains next week on the back of strong economic data, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,355.30 on Friday, up 2.9 percent from the previous week, renewing its all-time high.On Monday, South Korean shares breached the 2,300-point mark for the first time ever as foreign investors scooped up major tech stocks amid sound corporate earnings.The index continued to set fresh record highs this week, m

South Korean shares extended their winning streak to end at a new record high Friday on the back of improved investors' sentiment on gains from the Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 12.37 points, or 0.53 percent, to reach an all-time high of 2,355.30. Trade volume was moderate at 309.17 million shares worth 6.03 trillion won ($5.38 billion), with advancers far outnumbering losers 499 to 307.It also marks th

South Korea's top lender KB Kookmin Bank said Friday that it has successfully issued $400 million worth of bonds in Taiwan, becoming the first local bank to do so.The Formosa bonds will mature in five years and carry a floating rate with the spread set at 0.95 percentage point plus the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark interest rate in the global financial market, the bank said. Formosa bonds refer to bonds issued in Taiwan but denominated in a currency other than the Taiwan

The average daily stock trading by foreign investors reached nearly 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) this month, the highest ever in recorded history, according to the Korea Exchange on Friday. In the past 25 days, the average trading value by foreigners for Korean stocks has been 1.99 trillion won, marking the highest value recorded since the Korea Composite Stock Price Index started collecting foreign investors’ data from April 2005. The previous record was 1.9 trillion won in October 2007

South Korea's terms of trade deteriorated slightly in April from a year earlier as a rise in export prices was offset by a hike in import prices, central bank data showed Friday.The terms of trade index for products came to 101.38 last month, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea . The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how the country's exports are doing in comparison to others.Last m

South Korean stocks traded 0.42 percent higher late Friday morning, led by gains in logistics and tech firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.73 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,352.66 as of 11:20 a.m.CJ Logistics climbed 1.3 percent, and market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.6 percent. In contrast, autos trended lower. Top automaker Hyundai Motor was down 0.6 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors falling 0.4 percent. The local currency was ch

South Korean stocks opened with a marginal gain on Friday, taking a breather from the previous session's rally that hit an all-time high, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 0.91 point, or 0.04 percent to trade at 2,343.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The main index closed at a record high on Thursday, fueled by the rate freeze of the central bank, which hinted at an upward adjustment of its growth outlook from the current forecast of 2.6 percent, citing r

Money floating around the South Korean stock market has grown steadily this year as investors park funds in short-term equity-related vehicles amid financial uncertainty and a recent market rally, data showed Friday.The amount of money sitting idle around the local equity market came to 298 trillion won ($266 billion) as of Thursday, up 12.4 percent from the end of 2016, according to the data by the Korea Financial Investment Association. The figure includes 23.6 trillion won in investor deposit

South Korea's overall consumer sentiment hit the highest level in more than three years helped by a rise in exports and expectations of the new government's economic policies, central bank data showed Friday.The composite consumer sentiment index for May came to 108.0, up from 101.2, a month earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea. The May figure marked the highest since April 2014 when the index stood at 108.4. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists.A BOK official sa

South Korea’s pension behemoth the National Pension Service said it has decided to allocate more funds in stock investment, up to 45 percent of the total fund, by 2022.Currently managing about 563 trillion won ($503 billion) fund, the NPS’ fund management committee decided on the five-year investment portfolio during 2018-2022 in a meeting at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. According to the latest decision, the nation’s largest institutional investor will expand stock investment fr

The benchmark index of South Korea‘s main bourse continued its run into an unprecedented high for the fourth straight trading day Thursday, riding on the US market rallies after the release of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at record-high at 2,342.93, rising 1.1 percent compared to Wednesday. The top-tier stock market opened a tad higher at 2,325.49 compared to record closing Wednesday at 2,317.34. The index began to hover at ar

The head of President Moon Jae-in’s de facto transition team Thursday urged the Financial Services Commission to adopt a new way to curb household debt and speed up liquidation of debt-ridden firms. 　Kim Jin-pyo, chairman of the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee, raised the question of the viability of the current measure to tackle what he called “persisting economic woes in the perspectives of pundits and offshore ratings agencies” in a session with the financial regul

South Korea’s old-age dependency ratio is forecast to surge to some 80 individuals aged 65 and over for every 100 persons of working age (20-64) by year 2075, which will be the highest among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Citing the OECD indices, the National Assembly Research Service said that this means 1.25 working-age people would be financially responsible for one senior citizen 60 years from now.Currently, as of 2015, the comparative ratio is

The Korea Employers Federation on Thursday strongly criticized the new government’s policy to eliminate irregular working positions, contending it would further divide the gap between small and large firms. KEF Vice Chairman Kim Young-bae expressed his concerns regarding the Moon Jae-in administration’s pledge to regularize irregular workers at public firms, saying it has negative impacts on job creation and small businesses, during a forum in Seoul on Thursday.  Less than a mon

Standard Chartered Bank Korea is holding an appreciation event until the end of May offering Shinsegae mobile gift certificates to all customers who sign up for its asset management services. The bank said that a first-time customer will be given a mobile gift card worth up to 30,000 won ($27) on all asset services that exceed 1 million won.  To qualify for the gift card event, accounts and balances must be maintained until the end of the event date. Money market funds and savings accounts