South Korean retail investors last week injected over 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) to buy Samsung Electronics shares that touched the 70,000 won mark for the first time earlier this month, data showed Monday. During the five trading sessions, small domestic investors scooped up nearly 1.26 trillion won of the blue chip shares, while foreign and institutional investors offloaded a net 1.07 trillion won and 286.4 billion won worth of the shares, respectively, according to the Korea Exchange da

South Korea is expected to witness a decentralization of the office market in its capital city Seoul over the next few years as major tenants are planning to relocate and new submarkets emerge, a report showed Monday. Chaebol tenants such as Samsung, Doosan, Hyundai Heavy, LG are planning relocations within the Greater Seoul area, while banking group Hana Financial Group and public institutions are considering moving out of Seoul, leading to a “great reshuffling” of the Seoul offic

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Monday on the back of strong tech and pharmaceutical gains, but investors remain wary of the country's spiking new coronavirus outbreaks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.96 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,774.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Contact-free shares, such as giant chipmakers, drugmakers and online platform operators, advanced as South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases broke the 1,000 mark for the first tim

South Korean retail investors loaded up on shares of top-cap Samsung Electronics Co. last week amid a surge in its share price, data showed Monday. Individual investors bought a net 1.26 trillion won ($1.15 billion) worth of Samsung from Monday to Friday, their top pick among local companies, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. In contrast, foreign investors and local institutions sold a net 1.29 trillion won worth of Samsung shares during the five-session period. Individuals' stro

Foreign investors' net purchase of South Korean stocks reached a near seven-year high in November, with Britons emerging as the biggest buyers, data showed Monday. Foreigners bought a net 6.1 trillion won ($5.6 billion) worth of local stocks in November, the largest monthly net tally since September 2013, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Britons were the biggest net buyers of South Korean equities with 2.2 trillion won last month, which accounted for 36 perce

Top women financiers in Korea say concerted efforts needed from families, companies and society to create level playing field

South Korean stocks are likely to further rise next week despite some correction, as investors pin high hopes on a quick economic recovery from the pandemic's fallout. Despite a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at an all-time high of 2,770.06 points Friday, up 1.41 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI moved like roller coaster on vaccination reports, rising more than 2 percent Wednesday on the world's first mass COVID-19 vaccination in Britain. The

Mirae Asset Global Investments said Friday its five exchange-traded funds investing in stocks dedicated to batteries, biotechnology, internet and gaming sectors have topped 700 billion won ($642 million) in their combined net asset value as of Thursday, two months after their listing. The ETFs are its signature Tiger suite of products -- Tiger KRX BBIG K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Bio K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Secondary Battery K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Internet K-New Deal ETF and Tiger KRX Game

South Korean stocks gained nearly 1 percent to a fresh all-time high Friday, as hopes for new coronavirus vaccinations boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.6 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 2,770.06. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 18 trillion won ($16.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 659 to 192. Foreigners bought a net 163 billion won, while retail

South Korea's benchmark stock index opened sharply higher Friday, as optimism over new coronavirus vaccinations gained ground in the financial markets. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 25.87 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,772.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Local stocks traded bullish, as vaccine hopes offset concerns over increasing COVID-19 cases at home and disappointing jobless data in the United States. Investor sentiment was boosted following a US government advisory p

Women in South Korea‘s finance sector say they still face gender discrimination, social pressure for parenting, lack of promotion pipeline

South Korean stocks closed lower Thursday, roiled by an overnight Wall Street tech plunge and vaccine concerns amid uncertainties over the quadruple expiration of key stock derivatives. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.01 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 2,746.46. Trading volume was high at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 20.3 trillion won ($18.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 65

S. Korean banking group seeks initiative in sustainable banking

Driven by the development of COVID-19 vaccines and their eventual distribution, South Korea’s economy will steadily recover in 2021, growing at 3.6 percent followed by a 0.8 percent contraction this year, according to Japan’s Nomura Securities on Thursday. “Amid the global capex (capital expenditures) recovery, current IT export products and new export products such as electric vehicles and biohealth will play a leading role in driving South Korea’s economic recovery ne

South Korea‘s central government procurement agency has been putting efforts into bridging innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises and aspiring buyers of their prototypes and goods, its chief said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. As the state-run Public Procurement Service is looking to strengthen a separate web-based procurement platform created in February, in addition to its flagship Korea Online E-Procurement System, the agency will stay committed to the ro