More South Koreans are becoming inclined to stock investing as they seek to take advantage of a turnaround from the COVID-19 financial market crisis, a survey showed Sunday. Of 1,000 respondents aged between 19 and 59, 67.8 percent said they were interested in investing via stocks, according to a survey conducted in February by Seoul-based market research firm Macromill Embrain Trend Monitor. Among them, 52.7 percent said they had begun to take an interest in stock investing since January 2020

Mirae Asset Global Investments, an asset management arm of investment banking group Mirae Asset, reaped a record annual profit for 2020 as its efforts to diversify its product pipeline and beef up its global profile paid off. The latest filing by the second-largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing 112.1 trillion won ($99 billion) in assets as of end-2020, showed that its net profit throughout last year came to 256.4 billion won, up 66.2 percent from a year prior. The figure m

YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun-suk’s grip on the firm has weakened after China’s ticket booking platform divested itself from the K-pop powerhouse this month. Shanghai Fengying Business Consultant Partnership has unloaded all of its 953,947 shares in YG Entertainment, dissolving a special relation status with Yang, a former CEO of the firm, a regulatory filing showed on Friday. The report showed that the combined stake owned by Yang and seven other related parties fell to 25.

South Korean stocks advanced more than 1 percent Friday, as vaccine distribution spurred expectations of an economic rebound amid stable oil prices. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 32.68 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 3,041.01 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 15.4 trillion won ($13.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 544 to 291. Foreigners bought a net 296 billion won

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.34 points, or 0.44 percent, to 3,021.67 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.62 percent on improved jobless data, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.12 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics gained 0.37 percent, and N

Activist group’s claims of financial ties with military-backed companies puts S. Korean banks’ ESG drive, overseas expansion in dilemma

South Korean stocks snapped their four-day losing streak Thursday as investors bought undervalued shares on expectations of a rebound amid eased virus concerns. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.98 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 3,008.33 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 922 million shares worth some 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 460 to 374. Foreigners sold a net 82 b

Seen as new blue chip in market, ESG-themed funds on the rise -- but no tools exist to measure value, authenticity

Amid the stock investment boom, the number of women investing in stocks in South Korea has doubled over the past four years, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository on Thursday. While the number of stock investors in Asia’s fourth-largest economy recorded 9.19 million, the number of female stock traders came to 3.88 million as of the end of December last year, up from 1.94 million four years earlier, the data showed. The growth rate for female stock investors, 77.8

The number of South Korean women investing in stocks has doubled over the past four years amid an equity investment craze, data showed Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 3.88 million female stock investors as of the end of December last year, compared with 1.94 million four years earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The growth rate is much higher than the 77.8 percent increase in the number of male stock investors to 5.21 million from 2.93 millio

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday after four days of losses as investors bought on expectations of stock price hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.38 points, or 0.28 percent, to 3,004.73 points in the first 15 minutes of trading amid foreign buying. Stocks rebounded to positive terrain after the first five minutes, as impacts from news reports that North Korea launched two projectiles into the East Sea rapidly subsided. Market kingpin Samsung Elect

Hana Financial Investment shareholders approved the appointment of a new CEO on Wednesday -- a former vice chairman of global business at Hana Financial Group who has pledged to strengthen digital innovation and sharpen global competitiveness. As both shareholders and board members of the brokerage arm of Hana Financial Group agreed to welcome the new leader, 47-year-old Lee Eun-hyung is now the nation’s youngest chief within the securities industry. Hana Investment identified the CEO as

In a bid to uphold shareholders’ rights, South Korea’s state pension fund is seeking a greater say in companies in which it holds considerable stake, drawing market attention toward decisions it would rarely have made before. The National Pension Service said Wednesday that it had decided to vote against the appointments of some board members at the nation’s largest airline, Korean Air, at the airline’s shareholders meeting scheduled for Friday. They include Cho Won-t

Amid months of bullish cryptocurrency markets, digital coin trading volume is enjoying a stellar performance, raising expectations for a high market valuation of their businesses. The country’s two largest crypto exchange operators -- Dunamu and Bithumb Korea -- both recorded a hike in sales and revenue last year, backed by increased transactions from November, when the largest digital coin Bitcoin rose above 20 million won ($17,640) for the first time in 34 months. Dunamu, the operat

South Korean stocks retreated for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday as concerns over the resurgence in virus cases in Europe and the United States cast doubts over a prompt recovery from the pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.39 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 2,996.35 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 965 million shares worth some 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering l