Despite lingering volatility, South Korea’s main bourse Kospi is expected to recover starting from the second half of this year if the novel coronavirus comes under control globally and that sense of stability boosts consumption demand on the back of policy efforts, research heads of brokerages in Seoul said Sunday. “As pent-up demand sparks and corporate earnings increase with the government’s ...

Major South Korean lenders are gearing to start business in Myanmar, hoping to sustain their momentum in the Southeast Asian region. Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea and KB Kookmin Bank obtained preliminary approval from the central bank in Myanmar earlier in the week, industry sources said Friday. KDB was granted preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar a day prior...

The South Korean branches of foreign banks held a combined 305.2 trillion won ($250.9 billion) in assets last year, 11.8 percent increase from the previous year, mainly due to derivative products and securities, latest data showed Thursday. The increase was mainly attributable to their derivative product assets which rose by 14.3 trillion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service in it...

The virus outbreak further becomes more of a burden for the brokerages as their unsold overseas properties were stocked up after sell-down failures to related funds. Market watchers are paying closer attention to Mirae Asset Financial Group. It signed a contract with China’s Anbang Insurance to acquire 15 five-star hotels and resorts in key US cities in September last year, marking the single hi...

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday cautioned local retail investors to refrain from borrowing money when investing stocks, pointing at the excessive market volatility. In a rare message, the financial regulator noted that the current market condition is somewhat different from the 2008 global financial crisis, stressing that it has become more unpredictable than before. “Some existing...

Korean investors are flocking to overseas stock markets to scoop up undervalued shares, given the sluggish domestic market, according to latest data Monday. Securities information portal SEIBro, operated by Korea Securities Depository, noted local investors transacted some $13.76 billion worth of overseas stocks in March -- up 67.39 percent from the previous month -- marking the largest trading ...

South Korea’s listed companies are likely to post poor earnings results for the first quarter due to the escalating fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, a financial market tracker said Sunday. The combined operating profits of 141 listed companies are expected to mark 16.79 trillion won ($13.6 billion) in the January-March period this year, down 20.22 trillion won, or 16.92 percent, from...

The Korea Exchange (KRX) said Thursday it has decided not to implement a new rule meant to prevent major indices from dominant influence of a single stock. The stock market operator previously considered applying the so-called “30 percent cap” rule on market bellwether Samsung Electronics by June, as its weight on Kospi 200 increased to 33.5 percent as of Jan. 20 from 29.8 percent of Dec. 2. “T...

Investment funds in South Korea posted a sharp valuation fall in March over fears of the novel coronavirus, marking the largest decline so far, data showed Thursday. The combined net asset value of public offering and private placement funds, excluding private equity funds that entail management involvement in companies, sank to 646.19 trillion won ($520.74 billion) as of end-March, down 45.66 t...

As financial markets tank and investors rush to dump their tradeable assets amid the coronavirus crisis, some individual investors in South Korea are hoping to hit the jackpot. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, retail investor deposits on Thursday marked some 45.17 trillion won ($36.85 billion), up nearly 14 trillion won in March. Investor deposits refer to funds that are ...

Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo said Friday that its Hong Kong branch has suffered a loss of $5 million in a recent email fraud scam. The firm’s Hong Kong branch concluded an underwriting agreement to take over airplanes from an aircraft leasing company last year and made another contract to sublease the aircrafts to a carrier in Asia. But it was targeted in a “spear-phishing” attack wh...

South Korean stocks rebounded sharply Tuesday, as investors were buoyed by the US Federal Reserve’s overnight announcement of unlimited bond-buying and the government’s bold emergency financial aid package to tackle the economic slowdown due to novel coronavirus spread. The benchmark Kospi soared 127.51 points, or 8.6 percent, from the previous session, to close at 1,609.97. The market began s...

Despite the policy, the Korean stock market was again thrown into turmoil, with the benchmark index falling over 5 percent as offshore investors dumped local shares amid growing concerns over the economic fallout from coronavirus spread. Trading on the main bourse was briefly halted just six minutes after the opening bell as stocks plunged by over 5 percent. It was followed by another trading ha...

The South Korean government will unveil an additional package of financial measures in detail next week to placate staggering financial markets roiled by the spread of the novel coronavirus. According to financial authorities, the upcoming announcement will include follow-up measures related to the massive 50 trillion-won ($39.8 billion) financial support program that was already introduced Thur...

A top financial regulatory body urged authorities Friday not to panic and keep funds flowing during the coronavirus pandemic. The Financial Stability Board, which coordinates the work of national authorities around the world, said in a recent statement that the global financial system is in a better position to cope with the severe market shock from COVID-19, than it was for the global financial...