Battery maker LG Energy Solution, which split off from LG Chem last month, has also kicked off its IPO process by recently sending requests for proposals to brokerage firms ahead of selecting underwriters for the deal, according to industry sources. The sources forecast that the battery maker is highly likely to be eyeing its market debut on the nation’s main bourse as early as in the second hal...

Policy lender Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull said Tuesday that SsangYong Motor’s fate on getting financial assistance depends on its promise of stopping labor disputes until the cash-strapped company marks a turnaround. “We’ve seen many debt-ridden companies face strikes every year during annual negotiations between the labor union and management. To get rid of internal discord, t...

Retail investors turned to strong net buyers, loading up on over 4.47 trillion won ($4.08 billion) worth of shares on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi market Monday, double the previous record. The previous record was set on Nov. 30 last year, when they net purchased some 2.22 trillion won. Amid growing expectations of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor’s partnerships with US tech giants, small...

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi posted its strongest rise in the first trading week of this year in more than a decade, according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange on Sunday. The Kospi closed at 3,152.18 points Friday, up 278.71 points or 9.7 percent. It was the largest weekly increase since the last trading week of October 2008, when the index rose 174.31 points or 18.57 percent. Small do...

After South Korea’s benchmark Kospi hit the historic 3,000 mark a day before, the bull market continued unabated Thursday as it set a fresh record thanks to foreign and institutional investors who turned to net buyers. The Kospi began at 2,980.75 in the morning, up 12.54 points or 0.42 percent from the previous session’s close. Within a minute of the market opening, it soon recovered to 3,000 po...

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed above the 3,000 points for the first time Thursday, as well as rising to an all-time high of 3,055.28 during intraday trading. Retail investors’ buying binge led the historic 3,000-point milestone a day earlier although the index ended up closing at 2,968.21 points. While the era of Kospi 3,000 has wide opened, multiple brokerage houses raised stock price out...

Buoyed by the increasing participation of small investors and their growing clout in South Korea’s stock market, the nation’s main bourse reached a historic high on Wednesday, surpassing 3,000 points for the first time in the stock market’s 38-year history. The benchmark Kospi was launched by the nation’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange on Jan. 4, 1983, three years after the base value of 10...

As tech giant Samsung Electronics’ stock has set fresh record highs for three consecutive sessions and crossed the psychological threshold of 80,000 won ($73.66), South Korean brokerage firms have raised their target prices for the firm on signs of a recovery in demand in the global memory chip market, reports showed Tuesday. Some analysts predicted the world’s top memory chip maker’s stock pric...

Most large-cap stocks traded higher. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 3.45 percent to close at 81,000 won, ending trading above the 80,000 won level for the first time. It got off to a weak start, but once hit a 52-week high of 81,300 won per share as well. The country’s No. 2 chipmaker, SK hynix, and leading chemical firm LG Chem advanced 2.16 percent and 1.35 percent, while intern...

Buttressed by retail investors’ optimism over continual stock rallies in the South Korean stock market, the nation’s main bourse, the Kospi, logged an all-time closing high for the third consecutive session Tuesday, the ex-dividend date. The Kospi began trading at 2,810.55, up 1.95 points or 0.07 percent from the previous session’s close. It fluctuated up and down, hovering around the 2,800 mark...

Boosted by the surge in stock prices of key affiliates, the combined market capitalization of Samsung Group’s listed firms exceeded 700 trillion won ($636 billion) for the first time, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday. As of Thursday, the market cap of 23 listed stocks of the nation’s telecom-to-chemicals conglomerate came to 719.13 trillion won, soaring over 200 trillion won within the...

Amid soaring house prices, seven out of 10 South Koreans born in 1980s and 1990s believe having their own house is necessary but were pessimistic about purchasing residential property only with their income, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the survey, conducted by Mirae Asset Investment and Pension Center and Hankook Research in May, 70.6 percent of respondents said buying a house is nec...

South Korea’s sole bourse operator has named Sohn Byung-doo, former vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, to take the new chief post of the Korea Exchange, according to the officials Friday. Sohn’s CEO appointment was approved by shareholders of the Korea Exchange, they added. Prior to the shareholders meeting, he was named as the single candidate for the position earlier this mon...

A Hannam-dong residence in central Seoul owned by Shinsegae Group’s chief retained its top position as the most expensive house in Korea, data showed Friday. The value of Shinsegae chairwoman Lee Myeong-hee’s 2,862-square-meter house, as assessed by the government, was 29.53 billion won ($26.88 million), up 6.6 percent from this year. Lee is the younger sister of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee ...

South Korea’s outbound shipments of music albums and videos reached an all-time high this year, in the wake of growing popularity of K-pop acts worldwide, data showed Thursday. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, the export amounts surged by 94.9 percent on-year to $170 million for the January to November period. It was based on the export declaration data of physical CDs and DVDs....