Health rumors surrounding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may expand volatility in South Korea’s stock market already gripped with fears on plunging oil prices, analysts said Wednesday. Cheong Wa Dae’s announcement Tuesday that played down news reports of Kim being in critical condition will reduce uncertainties, but it is premature to determine that stock indexes and the local currency will be on a recovery track anytime soon, they added. “If Kim Jong-un does not make a pub

JB Financial Group has completed the acquisition of a Vietnam-based brokerage previously owned by global investment bank Morgan Stanley, as part of the local banking group’s effort to make inroads into Southeast Asia. JB Financial Group said Wednesday it paid 19.9 billion won ($16.1 million) for a 100 percent stake in Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities, a midsized brokerage headquartered in Hanoi. Founded in 2006, the firm posted some 300 billion Vietnamese dong ($12.7 million) as capita

South Korean crowdfunding platform Wadiz said Wednesday it has launched an offline space to help fundraising efforts by showcasing products to visitors and funders. Located in eastern Seoul, Gonggan Wadiz features a display room for “makers,” or those with an ongoing fundraising project on the Wadiz platform, as well as a workstation and networking space, officials said. Visitors and funders will be able to try the products before they invest in a project, they added. The two-sto

South Korean stocks extended losses late Wednesday morning as investors offloaded large-cap stocks amid falling crude prices and deepening woes over the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 28.66 points, or 1.52 percent, to 1,850.72 as of 11:15 a.m. The index dropped 1.8 percent in the past two sessions. For the remainder of the week, lower oil prices and poor corporate earnings results set to be released from this week are adding to woes of investors,

The Korean Intellectual Property Office will establish a patent information map to make the relevant data more accessible both to the public and to researchers seeking a cure for COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. Commissioner Park Won-joo on Tuesday visited Syntekabio, a genomic big data manager and artificial intelligence developer in Daejeon. With their counterparts from the Korean Society for Bioinformatics, KIPO officials discussed how AI could be used to analyze conventional drug informat

State-run Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea announced Tuesday they will inject a combined 1.7 trillion won ($1.40 billion) of fresh funds to keep the cash-strapped flag carrier Asiana Airlines afloat. The two policy banks held meetings to decide on the size of additional financial support measures for the nation’s second-largest airliner. The rescue move came after HDC Hyundai Development, a real estate developer set to acquire Asiana Airlines, requested the two b

Total “jeonse” rent loans supplied by commercial banks grew around 2 trillion won ($1.62 billion) for the second consecutive month, as the number of house hunters looking for two-year leases instead of purchases increased, industry data showed Tuesday.  The jeonse loan balance of the country’s five major commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana and Nonghyup -- came to 86.25 trillion won at the end of March, up 2.28 trillion won from a month before. The figu

South Korea’s stock market fluctuated as the geopolitical uncertainties triggered by the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and historic oil price plunge sapped investor sentiment. The benchmark indexes -- main bourse Kospi and Kosdaq -- had a roller-coaster ride. Kospi sank 3 percent to its lowest in the late morning session and the loss narrowed to 1 percent in its closing. Kosdaq saw a 5.6 percent plunge at its largest, and closed 1.4 percent lower. Market bellweth

South Korean investors could face losses regarding their hedge on oil futures as local brokerages did not reflect plunging oil prices in their forecasts, according to market watchers Tuesday. A futures contract for US West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery closed at negative $37.63 per barrel at the end of Monday trading in the US -- plunging $55.90 from the previous session’s close. The sudden collapse has put some securities firms into chaos. Kiwoom Securities suffered a techn

Amid concerns building over risks of individual investors seeking short-term profits, a local expert said Monday that the latest buying trend will likely result in great success in the long run. “Retail investors tend to have invested in blue chips during the recent buying binge, like Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Motor Company as well as relatively safer products like index funds,” said Yoo Ik-sun, head of the investment strategy unit at local asset manager Hanwha Asset M

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 16.07 points, or 0.85 percent, to 1,882.29 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The decline followed losses in the US market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.44 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 1.03 percent. Huh Jae-hwan, a strategist at Eugene Investment Co., said a sharp plunge in oil prices and potential poor corporate

Amid confidence building, massive capital flocking to stock market, authorities warn of ‘moral hazard’

South Korean stocks ended lower on Monday as investors await first-quarter earnings results from this week amid signs of an easing in the global coronavirus spread. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 16.17 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 1,898.36. Trading volume was moderate at 1.1 billion shares worth 11.7 trillion won ($9.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 515 to 337. The main index declined on Monday after

South Korea’s financial institutions and authorities are in talks to create a bad bank to help companies recoup the losses from disgraced hedge fund Lime Asset Management, according to industry sources Monday. The Financial Supervisory Service held a closed-door meeting with 19 private financial institutions including commercial lenders Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank and securities firms Shinhan Investment and Daishin Securities to discuss details of the private bad bank, or an asset manage

Seoul stocks opened higher Monday as signs of the easing spread of the new coronavirus helped ease investor concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.34 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,915.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the KOSPI ended up 3.1 percent to 1,914.53 amid hopes that the global coronavirus outbreak was peaking and will be slowing down. This week, investors will take a cue from companies' earnings results for the January-March perio