Retail traders, which have so far buttressed the pandemic-hit stock market, appear to have begun to unload shares, becoming net sellers in the market, data showed Sunday. According to the nation’s sole securities exchange operator Korea Exchange, they sold 1.27 trillion won ($1.13 billion) worth of stocks on Oct. 1-23. For the 14 trading days from Oct. 5-23, they sold 1.06 trillion won of shares in market kingpin Samsung Electronics, the most among large-cap companies. They sold off 269.

Death of Samsung chairman likely to have limited impact on Samsung stocks, analysts say

The government is slated to unveil a set of additional real estate policies as early as this week, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and related agencies on Sunday. The goal is to ease a supply shortage of “jeonse” apartments sparked by recently introduced tenant protection laws.  Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. The planned measure, the 24th of its kind, will

South Korea's tax agency said Saturday it will consider imposing taxes on Google Inc.'s planned enforcement of a 30 percent commission on in-app purchases of digital content from its Play Store next year. In a written answer submitted to Rep. Kim Soo-hong of the ruling Democratic Party, the National Tax Service said it will consider various measures to impose taxes on Google's income from the fees and will closely monitor the size of Google's sales in the domestic application market. The NTS sa

Remdesivir-related South Korea’s bio firms’ stocks skyrocketed Friday, after the US Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug as a treatment for the coronavirus overnight. Shares of Pharmicell on the nation’s main bourse Kospi closed at 18,700 won ($16.50), up 2,600 won, or 16.15 percent, from the previous session’s close. The stock price once peaked at 20,150 won during early afternoon trading hours. The bio firm produces nucleoside, w

South Korean stocks rebounded after a choppy session Friday, buoyed by optimism for improved corporate earnings in the third quarter amid the pandemic. The Korean won closed unchanged to the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.76 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 2,360.81. Trading volume was moderate at 874 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 436 to 408. Foreigners bought a net 37 billion won, while r

South Korean retail investors' losses from investments in overseas financial derivatives nearly doubled in the first half of the year from a year earlier, data showed Friday. Local individual investors suffered a combined loss of 880 billion won ($775 million) from their exposure to exchange-traded futures, options and other derivatives in the January-June period, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The amount is almost double their 2019 loss of some 416 billion won.

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, buoyed by optimism for improved corporate earnings in the third quarter amid the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 1.31 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,356.36 in the first 20 minutes of trading. Stocks started slightly higher despite lingering uncertainties over the ongoing talks for the new US virus relief package. In Seoul, most large caps traded lower. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics traded fla

South Korean stocks ended a three-day winning streak Thursday amid lingering uncertainties over a new stimulus push in the world's largest economy. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 15.81 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,355.05. Trading volume was moderate at about 802 million shares worth some 9.6 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 543 to 303. Foreigners sold a net 73 billion won, while ret

South Korea’s financial watchdog has decided to restrict unlicensed investment advisers’ activities on instant messaging apps like KakaoTalk and Telegram, financial authorities said Thursday. The Financial Supervisory Service made the decision Wednesday to eliminate messaging app chatrooms from among the list of eligible platforms where such advisers can work. The option would be deleted on the business plan the advisers are required to submit to the watchdog. The current law bans

Kyochon F&B, South Korea’s largest fried chicken franchise, will make its market debut on the nation’s main bourse Kospi next month to raise as much as 71.34 billion won ($62.85 million), its chief executive officer said Thursday. Kyochon will be the first franchise firm to be directly listed on Kospi, he said. “Being the first local franchise firm to list on Kospi means a lot to us. The IPO will set a meaningful milestone for Kyochon’s growth to become a global food

Shinhan Financial Group said Thursday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese subsidiary of Singapore-based ride-hailing giant Grab to jointly develop new digital financial services.  Under the agreement, Shinhan’s startup accelerator unit, Shinhan Future’s Lab Vietnam, and Grab will join hands to nurture budding local enterprises developing new services ranging from fintech to real estate and will work together to build a startup-friendly ecosyst

South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Thursday on tech and auto losses, tracking losses from its US peers amid lingering stimulus uncertainties in the world's largest economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 23.28 points, or 0.98 percent, to 2,347.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Local stocks got off to a weak start on long-stalled stimulus talks in the United States, one of South Korea's largest trade partners. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3

South Korea’s biggest institutional investor, the National Pension Service, has forged a partnership with Dutch retirement fund operator APG Asset Management to invest in European and Asian markets, according to the Korean fund operator. APG, which managed assets worth 538 billion euros ($637.4 billion) as of the end of 2019, invests in the private education, construction and energy sectors on behalf of Dutch state-run fund ABP. Before forging the partnership, APG and the NPS jointly in

The prices of small to midsized apartments have increased precipitously in recent years, according to data from the office of Rep. Kim Sang-hoon. The lawmaker’s office received the data from the Korea Appraisal Board. Small to midsized apartments, measuring 40 to 62.8 square meters, have increased in price 65.9 percent, posting 245.2 million won on average, from May 2017 to July this year, the data showed. The lawmaker’s office classified apartments into four categories: Small apa