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  • Economy

    SpaceX fever drives Korean investors to space-themed ETFs

    Korean investors are rushing to gain exposure to SpaceX ahead of its Nasdaq debut, pouring money into space-themed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as the Elon Musk-led company prepares for one of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in history, market watchers said Wednesday. The U.S. space giant is scheduled to begin trading on Nasdaq Friday (local time). SpaceX reportedly drew about $150 billion in investor demand during the book-building process, roughly double its fundraising target. If the offering proceeds as expected, it would be valued at about $1.75 trillion, potentially making it one of the 10 most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States. The anticipated listing has sparked strong interest among Korean investors across both institutional and retail channels. Mirae Asset Securities' second subscription offering for professional investors tied to the SpaceX IPO was fully subscribed in about two minutes on Monday morning, following a first round last Friday that closed in roughly one minute. The offering sought to raise a total of $500 million. Retail investors

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    SpaceX fever drives Korean investors to space-themed ETFs
  • Economy

    InterviewHong Kong's role as Korea-China business bridge grows, Chinese chamber chief says

    3 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    Hong Kong's role as Korea-China business bridge grows, Chinese chamber chief says
  • Economy

    Seoul shares open sharply lower on US tech slide, Iran tensions

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul shares open sharply lower on US tech slide, Iran tensions
  • Economy

    Exports up 86% in first 10 days of June, set new record high

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Exports up 86% in first 10 days of June, set new record high
  • Economy

    Korea loses 40,000 jobs in May, first drop since 2024 martial law bid

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korea loses 40,000 jobs in May, first drop since 2024 martial law bid
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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

KOSPI ends down on overnight declines on Wall Street

By Lee Min-hyungKorean stocks pulled back Friday as overnight declines on Wall Street sapped investor sentiment here.This situation heightened fears that the benchmark KOSPI might extend its losses at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to carry out additional big rate hikes by the end of this year.The main bourse closed at 2,644.51, down 1.23 percent from the previous session, after foreign and institutional investors went on a selling spree. The secondary KOSDAQ also widened its losing streak and closed down 1.76 percent during the same period.The major stock indices in New York went on a relief rally on Wednesday soon after the Fed's 50-basis-point rate hike. But investors took flight the following day, as inflationary concerns remain in place despite the aggressive monetary policy.Market experts said that stock markets would continue to face volatility, as the much-anticipated rate hikes by the Fed cannot be a cure-all for the ongoing inflationary concerns.“The Fed's latest monetary decision is favorable to the market from a short-term viewpoint, as it cleared

May 6, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
KOSPI ends down on overnight declines on Wall Street
Economy

BOK likely to deliver back-to-back rate hike in May: brokerage

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong / Korea Times fileKorea's central bank is likely to deliver a back-to-back key interest rate rise in May as part of its efforts to rein in inflation, a major local brokerage house said Friday.The Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.5 percent during the April meeting, the fourth increase since August last year.The BOK is slated to hold its next rate-setting meeting May 26, the first such meeting to be chaired by new BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, who took office last month."Accelerating consumer prices and inflation expectations (in Korea) have resulted in a greater need for the BOK's monetary policy board to rush an additional interest rate increase," Kim Ji-man, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said.The BOK's minutes of its April policy meeting, which were disclosed Tuesday, showed that members had called for further rate increases to tame inflation, he said.This year, the BOK is expected to jack up its benchmark rate three times in May, July and October, raising the key rate to 2.25 percent by the end of the y

May 6, 2022
BOK likely to deliver back-to-back rate hike in May: brokerage
Economy

Korea vows 'preemptive' steps against market volatility after Fed's rate hike

First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon / Yonhap The finance ministry vowed Friday to seek preemptive measures, if needed, to tackle market volatility "in an aggressive and swift manner" following the U.S. central bank's half-point rate hike.On Wednesday (local time), the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates by a half-percentage point to curb the country's worst inflation in about four decades. The increase was the sharpest in 22 years.Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said 50-basis point rate hikes "should be on the table at the next couple of meetings," though the committee is not actively considering even more aggressive rate hikes."As external uncertainties surrounding the Korean economy have continued, concerns have increased over high volatility in Korea's financial markets," First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said, stressing the need for "preemptive responses.""The government will closely monitor the market situation and risk factors with extra

May 6, 2022
Korea vows 'preemptive' steps against market volatility after Fed's rate hike
Economy

REITs attract investors' money amid sluggish stock, bond markets

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkWhile both the stock and bond markets have been turning bearish amid stagflation concerns, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are attracting investors' money, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Thursday. The bourse operator's REITs Infra Preferred Balanced Index ― where more than 70 percent of the included stocks are REITs ― increased by 3.2 percent in April, while the benchmark KOSPI fell by 2.27 percent during the same period. If the period is extended to three months, REITs' impressive performance during the bearish market conditions is even more evident. The 19 REITs listed on the Korean stock markets logged an average increase of 13.3 percent over the past three months, while the KOSPI only increased by 2 percent. Overall, the entire market cap of the 19 listed REITs stood at 8.63 trillion won ($6.8 billion), as of the end of April, which is a 9 percent jump from the previous month. The market cap of listed REITs nearly tripled from two years ago, when the local market size was only at around 3 trillion won. In the past four weeks alone, so

May 5, 2022By Anna J. Park
REITs attract investors' money amid sluggish stock, bond markets
Economy

Outgoing finance minister calls for extension of Moon's signature Korean New Deal

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki speaks during his farewell meeting with journalists at the ministry in Sejong, Wednesday. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooOutgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki has expressed hope for the incoming government to maintain the Korean New Deal, a signature economic initiative of President Moon Jae-in.Speaking at his farewell press conference at the ministry in Sejong, Wednesday, Hong's comment came amid rampant speculation that the new administration will most likely target the Korean New Deal in scaling down assistance for Moon's key economic projects.Such speculation comes as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol struggles to finance trillions of won in relief funds that had been promised to small business owners. Accordingly, the incoming administration is seeking to squeeze out money from the 2022 budget worth 608 trillion won ($480 billion) approved by the Moon government.“It is something that we will need to embrace after all considering the global trend and the domestic economic situati

May 5, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Outgoing finance minister calls for extension of Moon's signature Korean New Deal
Economy

Fed's less-hawkish-than-expected tone to ease volatility in financial market: analysts

Electronic signboards at Hana Bank in Seoul show the benchmark KOSPI fell 0.11 percent to 2,677.57 points at the closing bell, while the value of the local currency against the dollar rose to 1,266.30 won per dollar, Wednesday. The financial market will resume after a break on Children's Day, Thursday. YonhapBOK likely to deliver additional rate hike on May 26 to prevent reversal in interest gapBy Yi Whan-wooThe volatility in the Korean financial market is likely to ease in the short term due to the latest half-percentage-point increase in the U.S. interest rate, as the level of the hike was within market expectation, according to analysts, Thursday.They said the Federal Reserve had been pointing repeatedly to such a “big-step” rate hike since its previous rate-setting meeting on March 16, and that currency and stock markets in Seoul took into account any resulting shocks in advance.The experts also said the fact that Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out the possibility of a 0.75 percentage point increase, or a “giant step” in the benchmark interest rate, can fur

May 5, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Fed's less-hawkish-than-expected tone to ease volatility in financial market: analysts
Economy

'Korea-US currency swap resumption absolutely needed': experts

An employee fans dollar bills at Hana Bank's counterfeit response center in Seoul, Wednesday. Newsis Incoming administration urged to secure currency-swap deal to stabilize marketBy Anna J. Park As the won-dollar exchange rate and interest rates both continue to soar, market experts are calling for the resumption of the Korea-U.S. currency swap. They view the currency swap deal is an 'absolute must' to stabilize the country's exchange rate, which has been nearing its 14-year high of about 1,300 won per dollar.“It is absolutely necessary for Korea to resume its currency swap deal with the U.S. to stabilize the rising exchange rate,” Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University, told The Korea Times, adding that the Korean government should heed its utmost priority in stabilizing the foreign exchange market as well as maintaining the country's foreign reserves, in order to avoid a foreign exchange crisis as seen currently in other countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakist

May 4, 2022By Anna J. Park
'Korea-US currency swap resumption absolutely needed': experts
  • Specter of 'perfect storm' looms over Korean economy
Economy

Specter of 'perfect storm' looms over Korean economy

gettyimagesbankIncoming administration urged to take preemptive measures against worst-case scenarioBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korean economy should preemptively combat the possible repercussions of a “perfect storm” of rising inflation, plummeting stock prices and a heightened risk of global supply disruptions, and focus on ensuring corporate resilience, experts said Wednesday.Coupled with the multiple risk factors, the economy is also widely forecast to slow down this year. In February, the Bank of Korea (BOK) presented Korea's 2022 GDP growth outlook of 3 percent, but the central bank is likely to revise down the forecast this month on such pessimistic external signs.The economy also stands at a critical juncture ahead of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration on May 10. As the U.S. Federal Reserve is taking a very big step toward a rate hike, investors are less likely to invest in stocks in emerging markets. The BOK is also widely expected to keep increasing the key rate throughout this year. Korea has already pushed for a preemptive set of rate hikes to 1.5 percent. I

May 4, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Specter of 'perfect storm' looms over Korean economy
  • 'Korea-US currency swap resumption absolutely needed': experts
Economy

Doubts raised over feasibility of incoming administration's key economic policies

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a meeting of the transition committee at its office in Jongno District in central Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press CorpsBy Yi Whan-wooKey economic pledges of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on fiscal policies, real estate and banking appear to be unattainable or require a considerable amount of time to achieve, as shown by a list of 110 major policy tasks announced by the incoming administration.The transition team came up with the 110 tasks following debates and research on whether Yoon's pledge should be kept or modified to adapt to changing social and economic circumstances following his election win on March 9.On budget spending, the incoming government is likely to follow the outgoing Moon Jae-in administration's expansionary fiscal policy despite accusing it of snowballing national debt.The transition committee said the incoming government will need 209 trillion won ($165.3 billion) more than this year's government budget to implement all of the tasks.The amount was finalized by postponing Yoon's pledge to raise the monthly wage of enlisted

May 4, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Doubts raised over feasibility of incoming administration's key economic policies
  • President-elect in hot seat over backpedaling on key pledges
Economy

Incoming gov't set to bolster support for ESG management

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, right, and presidential transition committee chairman Ahn Cheol-soo hold a board displaying the 110 key policy tasks be pursued by the incoming administration during a briefing at the committee's office in Jongno District in central Seoul, May 3. The 110 tasks include those associated with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management, such as aquatic ecosystems and clean energies. Joint Press CorpsOversight to be set up by private, public sector to facilitate ESG policies By Yi Whan-wooThe incoming administration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is going full force to support environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management ― principles that firms around the world are increasingly obligated to observe for sustainable growth. The incoming administration's commitment to ESG is comparable to that of the outgoing Moon Jae-in administration, which came up with the guidelines for building an ESG ecosystem in Korea in August 2021.The guidelines were Korea's first government-initiated ESG guidelines, following the formal introd

May 4, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Incoming gov't set to bolster support for ESG management
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