South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight day Monday after a choppy session, as investors lean towards belief that the price hike is likely temporary. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.19 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 3,203.92 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 13.8 trillion won ($12.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 505 to 342. Foreigners bought a net 52

The exchange traded fund market in South Korea is soon expected to expand in size along with the government’s move to ease regulations regarding actively managed ETFs, a report showed Monday. As the Korea Exchange has allowed the listing of active ETFs since August, eight new related products were launched on the nation’s main bourse Kospi on Tuesday. Previously, only bond ETFs could be listed on the local stock market, according to Korea Investment & Securities strategist Seo S

Private sectors across the globe should make a concerted effort to narrow the gaps in achieving the philanthropic goal of a green economy, said a top financial regulator of South Korea. “Even if a nation successfully puts an end to COVID-19, the pandemic will not be over until it’s over everywhere,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said in an opening remark of Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030‘s special session on Saturday. &ldquo

A 170-square-meter land in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, where South Korean beauty brand Nature Republic’s flagship store is located, has been named the most expensive real estate property in the country for the eighteenth consecutive year, data showed Monday.  The prime plot in the middle of the downtown shopping district was appraised at nearly 200 million won ($179,800) per square-meter, up 3.8 percent from 190 million won estimated a year earlier, according to data released by th

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday amid investor concerns of early post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.92 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,182.81 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a weak start as accelerating inflation may sap demand for risky assets. The US personal consumption expenditures index picked up 0.6 percent in April, marking the fastest on-year jump since 2008. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electron

The Financial Supervisory Service has been designated to man the main control tower overseeing the country’s burgeoning virtual asset market, putting an end to months of discussions on who would take charge, while major cryptocurrencies fell over the weekend. In an announcement on Friday, the government delegated the FSS, the country’s financial regulator, in charge of virtual assets while the Ministry of Science and ICT will take the helm in leading the country’s blockchai

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was the most heavily shorted stock in the South Korean market in the first month of a conditional resumption on short selling, data from the nation’s sole bourse operator showed Sunday. The amount of short sale transactions of the tech giant stood at 611.7 billion won ($549.18 million), an average of 34 billion won per day during 18 trading sessions from May 3 to Friday, according to the Korea Exchange data. Samsung shares have recently traded bearish,

Jungheung Group, a local construction company, has expressed interest in acquiring Daewoo Engineering and Construction, but is in the process of reviewing its value and business potential, the builder said Friday. ”The company is interested in acquiring Daewoo E&C but nothing is confirmed,” an official at Jungheung said. “We’ll carefully examine the various conditions including Daewoo’s domestic and overseas business status, prospects after the acquisition an

Nonfungible tokens have seen a soaring popularity this year, but its future in South Korea remains uncertain due to legal gray areas, experts said Thursday during a conference on NFTs held in Seoul. Despite the short history of NFTs, the digital asset could create many opportunities for domestic companies as they try to add value to the fledgling technology and industry, experts said. But there are limits to bringing it into the commercial sphere as the domestic regulatory framework is not re

The South Korean government has thrown its weight behind plans to build exascale supercomputers by 2030 and nurture local talents in the sector, the finance minister said Friday. Exascale computing, a computer system that performs 1 quintillion operations per second, enables superspeed data analyses and simulations at that will pave the way for crucial discoveries in a wide range of fields, from finding new drugs against COVID-19 to predicting effects of climate change. The government plans

Toss Securities, an online brokerage firm owned by fintech firm Viva Republica, said Friday that the number of stock trading accounts on its platform has surpassed 3 million. The 3 million accounts amount to around 30 percent of 9.14 million individual investors in the nation. Launched on Feb. 3, the company attracted new customers by running a series of promotional events. More than 1.7 million new customers joined the Toss platform during a five-day event in February that handed each new c

South Korea plans to impose a 20 percent income tax on capital gains from cryptocurrency transactions starting next year as planned, the government announced Friday, despite growing investor calls for delaying the taxation plan. The government announced the plan after discussing the matter during a vice-ministerial interagency meeting chaired by Koo Yoon-cheol, head of the government policy coordination under the Prime Minister's Office. Gains from cryptocurrency transactions will be classifie

South Korean stocks increased Friday on hopes for a quick economic rebound, taking a cue from improved US economic data. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 23.22 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 3,188.73 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 954 million shares worth some 13.4 trillion won (US$12 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 596 to 262. Foreigners bought a net 139 billion won, while retail investors s

South Korean institutions' investment in foreign securities fell 1.7 percent in the first quarter as they reduced their holdings of foreign sovereign bonds, central bank data showed Friday. The combined value of foreign securities held by institutional investors came to $363 billion as of end-March, down $6.1 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign securities include stocks, bonds and so-called Korean paper, which refers to foreign currency-denominated

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains that stemmed from strong US economic data and upcoming federal spending plans. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 18.56 points, or 0.59 percent, to reach 3,184.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Industrial Average gained 0.41 percent, as jobless data declined to a fresh pandemic low, and the S&P 500 edged up 0.12 percent. The world's largest economy will soon reveal