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  • Others

    KOSPI plunges 8% on concerns over end of chip earnings cycle, interest rate hike

    Korean stocks tumbled Monday, as a broad-based correction in global semiconductor shares triggered heavy selling across the market, prompting the activation of both sidecar trading curbs and circuit breakers on the KOSPI and Kosdaq markets. Attention is centered on whether KOSPI, which has staged a record-breaking rally this year, can resume its upward trajectory after a short-term correction or whether market volatility will intensify further. The benchmark KOSPI opened 112.50 points, or 1.38 percent, lower at 8,048.09 before extending its losses throughout the session to close at 7,484.41, down 676.18 points, or 8.29 percent. The index reached an all-time intraday high of 8,933.62 on June 2. After plunging 5.54 percent on Friday, the KOSPI posted losses for a second consecutive session, underscoring growing concerns over a pullback in semiconductor stocks that had fueled the market's recent rally. Amid heavy selling pressure, trading restrictions kicked in shortly after the market opened, with a Level 1 circuit breaker triggered at 9:03 a.m. and a sell-side sidecar activated at 9:34 a.

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    KOSPI plunges 8% on concerns over end of chip earnings cycle, interest rate hike
  • Economy

    Lee attributes weakening won to foreign investors' portfolio rebalancing

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Lee attributes weakening won to foreign investors' portfolio rebalancing
  • Economy

    Financial authorities vow stern action against excessive volatility, one-sided FX market moves

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Financial authorities vow stern action against excessive volatility, one-sided FX market moves
  • Economy

    Corporate lending grows at fastest pace in 3 1/2 years in Q1: BOK

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Corporate lending grows at fastest pace in 3 1/2 years in Q1: BOK
  • Economy

    Economy continues 'gradual improvement' on strong chip exports: KDI

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Economy continues 'gradual improvement' on strong chip exports: KDI
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Economy

Return to normalcy campaign accelerates employment

By Yi Whan-wooThe country reported job growth for 15 months straight in May amid recovery momentum, but this growth may slow down due to inflation and other looming economic risks, according to officials and analysts, Wednesday.The outlook comes as Statistics Korea announced that the number of employed people nationwide increased by 935,000 year-on-year in May to mark the 15th consecutive month of job growth since March 2021.In particular, last month marked the largest increase in jobs for any May in 22 years.The May reading was higher than the year-on-year increase of 865,000 in April when the government lifted most of the pandemic restrictions.By sector, the accommodation and restaurant industries saw 34,000 more jobs year-on-year, after two months of falls.The number of employees in the health and social welfare service sector grew by 178,000 and the public administration segment added 99,000 jobs.The manufacturing industry reported a year-on-year increase of 107,000 job posts amid robust exports.The number of unemployed people fell by 259,000 from a year earlier to 889,000 in May

Jun 15, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Return to normalcy campaign accelerates employment
Economy

Seoul stocks dive to fresh 19-month low amid woes over Fed's rate decision

A currency trader walks near screens showing the KOSPI, left, and the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, June 15. YonhapKorean stocks sank to a fresh 19-month low Wednesday, extending their losing streak for a seventh day ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision amid high inflation and concerns over a global recession. The local currency also fell against the U.S. dollar.The KOSPI lost 45.59 points, or 1.83 percent, to close at 2,447.38, its lowest since Nov. 10, 2020, when the index closed at 2,452.83.Trading volume was moderate at 700.92 million shares worth 9.80 trillion won ($7.59 billion), with decliners far outpacing gainers 812 to 86.The market opened a tad lower after Wall Street ended mixed but had extended losses on heavy foreign sell-offs.Foreign investors sold a net 454.42 billion won worth of shares, while individuals and institutions bought a net 346.28 billion won and 73.6 billion won, respectively.Investors remained wary of the result of the Federal Reserve's two-day interes

Jun 15, 2022
Seoul stocks dive to fresh 19-month low amid woes over Fed's rate decision
Economy

Rigid labor market, corporate inefficiency pull down Korea's global ranking

By Yi Whan-wooA rigid labor market, worsening fiscal soundness and inefficiency in government and corporate management pulled down Korea's global competitiveness ranking for the first time in four years, in an annual survey taken by one of the world's top-ranked business schools.The Ministry of Economy and Finance said, Wednesday, Korea fell by four notches to 27th place in the 2022 report by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) on the global competitiveness of 63 countries.A Switzerland-based school specialized in executive education, the IMD assessed 63 countries based on four categories: economic performance, government efficiency, corporate efficiency and infrastructure.Korea had been climbing up the ranking ― 28th in 2019 and 23rd in 2020 and 2021 ― before it fell to 27th in the latest IMD survey.The 2022 ranking comes as the world's 10th-largest economy is struggling with a snowballing fiscal deficit amid a slowdown in growth that was slashed to the 2-percent range while inflation was revised up to the 4-percent range in the latest outlooks.Among the 29

Jun 15, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Rigid labor market, corporate inefficiency pull down Korea's global ranking
Economy

Bitcoin fall drags down local crypto exchange stocks

An electronic board set up at a Bithumb customer center in Seoul, shows the steep price fall of Bitcoin, Wednesday. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe ongoing crash of major cryptocurrencies is dragging down crypto-related stocks here, with most companies that invested in exchanges extending losses in line with escalating fear sentiment in the global crypto market. Kakao was hit hardest by growing skepticism in the crypto industry. Shares of the nation's dominant mobile platform operator have continued a losing streak for the past few months. Kakao's stock price was traded at as high as around 170,000 won last year, but it has fallen sharply to as low as 72,800 won at one time on Wednesday.The company is the third-largest shareholder of Dunamu, the operator of Korea's largest crypto exchange, Upbit. Kakao holds a 10.88-percent stake in Dunamu.Woori Technology Investment is one of Dunamu's major shareholders with a stake of 7.4 percent in the exchange operator. But shares of the Woori affiliate are also extending losses. The firm's stock reached a new high of 12,000 won late last year but has

Jun 15, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Bitcoin fall drags down local crypto exchange stocks
Economy

Finance minister to meet with heads of BOK, regulators over Fed's looming rate hike

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, left, and Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong speak at a breakfast meeting in Seoul over the economic situation, May 16. YonhapFinance Minister Choo Kyung-ho plans to meet with the chiefs of the central bank and the financial regulators this week to discuss the impact of the Federal Reserve's looming rate hike, his office said Wednesday.Choo will hold a meeting Thursday with Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, and Kim So-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), according to the finance ministry.This will be the first time for Choo to hold an extended meeting on macroeconomic conditions with the new chiefs of the BOK and financial regulators, after the new government took office last month. Kim Joo-hyun, the nominee for the FSC chief, is currently preparing for a confirmation hearing.The participants are expected to discuss the results of the Fed's policy meeting and its impact on the financial market. Korea's financial markets have been roiled this week by the growin

Jun 15, 2022
Finance minister to meet with heads of BOK, regulators over Fed's looming rate hike
Economy

Money supply up in April as deposits grow amid rising rates

gettyimagesbankKorea's money supply grew in April as rising interest rates led to an increase in deposits, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,667.1 trillion won ($2.84 trillion) on average in April, up 8.5 trillion won, or 0.2 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The rise followed a 0.1 percent month-on-month decline in March, which marked the first contraction since September 2018. M2 is a measure of the money supply that counts cash, demand deposits and other easily convertible financial instruments.April's increase stemmed in part from a rise in deposits amid rising interest rates in line with the central bank's recent monetary tightening.Last month, the BOK hiked its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.75 percent, the fifth increase in borrowing costs since August last year.Demand deposits expanded 7.6 trillion won month-on-month, while time deposits grew 4.2 trillion won over the same period, the data showed.Compared with a year earlier, the M2 expande

Jun 15, 2022
Money supply up in April as deposits grow amid rising rates
Economy

JP Morgan predicts BOK's 'big-step' rate hike amid inflation woes

BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong presides over a rate-setting meeting at Bank of Korea in Seoul, May 26. YonhapGlobal investment bank JP Morgan on Wednesday forecast that Korea's central bank could take a "big step" of raising its interest rate by 50 basis points as part of efforts to keep a lid on growing inflation pressure.JP Morgan also expected the Bank of Korea (BOK) to continue the sequence of its rate hikes in the months to come and raise the rate to as high as 3 percent by the end of the year. The forecast is based on its analysis of minutes the BOK disclosed a day earlier on the monetary policy board (MPC) meeting held last month, in which the central bank hiked its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.75 percent. It was the fifth increase in borrowing costs since August last year. "While the minutes did not directly guide the specific width and timing of follow-up hikes in coming meetings, the members' arguments suggested that the committee would not hesitate to preemptively react to risk cases in inflation," Park Seok-gil, an analyst at JP Morgan, said in a report. "Our

Jun 15, 2022
JP Morgan predicts BOK's 'big-step' rate hike amid inflation woes
Economy

Finance minister says stabilizing prices, people's livelihoods top priority

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, right, speaks with Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, during a party-government consultative meeting on economic policy at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 15. YonhapFinance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Wednesday that the government will use every possible policy measure to stabilize prices and people's livelihoods amid rising concerns of an economic slowdown and higher inflation.Choo made the remark at a ruling party-government consultative meeting on economic policy, asking for Assmbly support for efforts to overcome the economic crisis."We are in a difficult situation in many ways, but the government will use every possible policy measure to respond to the priority of stabilizing people's livelihoods and prices, while making efforts to improve growth potential," he said.The meeting came a day before the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol unveils its economic policy direction.Choo said the Yoon government's economic policy roadmap will focus on four aspects: shifting the axis of economic management fro

Jun 15, 2022
Finance minister says stabilizing prices, people's livelihoods top priority
Economy

Korea's job growth extended for 15th month in May

A jobseeker consults with an official at a regional job center in Seoul, April 17, 2021. Yonhap Korea reported job additions for the 15th consecutive month in May as economic recovery momentum has been extended despite heightened global uncertainty, data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people came to 28.49 million last month, up 935,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The May reading was higher than a year-on-year increase of 865,000 in April and also marked the largest job additions in 22 years for any May.The country has reported job growth every month since March last year as the job market improved amid the economic recovery."Employment in in-person services increased amid the lifting of virus curbs. The country has extended job recovery momentum," Kong Mi-suk, a senior Statistics Korea official, told reporters.The Korean economy has extended its recovery momentum, but it also faces heightened economic uncertainty

Jun 15, 2022
Korea's job growth extended for 15th month in May
Economy

Fitch cuts 2022 growth outlook for Korea to 2.4%

gettyimagesbankGlobal credit appraiser Fitch Ratings lowered its 2022 growth outlook for the Korean economy to 2.4 percent Wednesday, citing the fallout of the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine, and China's economic slowdown.The latest outlook is a 0.3 percentage-point drop from its March estimate of 2.7 percent growth for Asia's fourth-largest economy.Fitch said slower global growth and China's economic slowdown are posing "external challenges" to the Korean economy.The rating agency also cited the Ukraine crisis, major central banks' monetary tightening and further potential COVID-19 lockdowns in China as additional economic "hurdles" for Korea.Fitch's growth outlook is lower than the Bank of Korea's (BOK) 2.7 percent forecast and the International Monetary Fund's 2.5 percent projection.It said Korea's inflation is expected to keep rising "rapidly" as high energy and raw material prices have pushed up manufacturing costs.The country's consumer prices jumped 5.4 percent in May year-on-year, the fastest rise in almost 14 years and a pickup from a 4.8 percent gain in April.The

Jun 15, 2022
Fitch cuts 2022 growth outlook for Korea to 2.4%
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