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  • Policy

    MSCI cites improved access to Korea-linked investment products ahead of review

    Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said Friday that the Korean financial market has improved in terms of the availability of investment instruments ahead of next week's annual market classification review, while noting that underlying accessibility issues remain unresolved. "Derivative products linked to Korean indexes have recently been listed on international exchanges," it wrote in its 2026 global market accessibility review, upgrading its assessment from minus to plus. A plus rating means there are no major issues, though there is still room for improvement. MSCI said some restrictions remain in Korea on the use of exchange data for the creation of financial products. The Korean market received minus ratings in six of the 18 assessment categories last year. But this year, as the availability of investment instruments category was upgraded to plus, the number of minus-rated categories fell to five: the foreign exchange market liberalization level, investor registration and account setup, information flow, clearing and settlement, and transferability. "Authorities have continu

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    MSCI cites improved access to Korea-linked investment products ahead of review
  • Economy

    KOSPI slips from record high amid US-Iran uncertainty

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    KOSPI slips from record high amid US-Iran uncertainty
  • Economy

    Gov't to expand supply of imported eggs amid price hikes

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Gov't to expand supply of imported eggs amid price hikes
  • Economy

    Seoul stocks sharply up late Friday morning on chip rally

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul stocks sharply up late Friday morning on chip rally
  • Economy

    US-Iran MOU poses new opportunities, challenges for Korea: finance minister

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    US-Iran MOU poses new opportunities, challenges for Korea: finance minister
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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

Fed's earlier-than-expected rate hike rekindles preference for safe assets

From left are Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. AP-YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe United States Federal Reserve's reported plan to bring forward interest rate hikes will rekindle appetites for safe assets, weakening the valuations of Korea's local currency and KOSPI-listed stocks, analysts said.Earlier expectations were that the Fed would increase its key rate sometime late in the first half of 2022. But there stands a growing likelihood for the authority to do so as early as March, soon after it ends the tapering of its bond-buying campaign.Fed Chair Jerome Powell also hinted at the possibility, saying that it does not require much time lag between the end of tapering and the rate hike due to the increasing risk of inflation there.The outlook will help safe assets continue to gain momentum for a robust rally, as they had been seeing throughout 2021 when the won-dollar exchange rate surged by around 10 percent. The benchmark KOSPI also closed with a lukewarm performance on the last trading day of 2021, when the main bourse finished at 2,977.6

Jan 3, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Fed's earlier-than-expected rate hike rekindles preference for safe assets
Economy

Presidential candidates seek to appeal to investors at bourse opening

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, and main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol applaud during a New Year's bourse opening ceremony at the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Yeouido, Monday. YonhapKOSPI, KOSDAQ both close higher on first day of 2022By Anna J. ParkKorea's two leading presidential candidates started the first week of the year by jointly attending the New Year opening ceremony of the stock market held at the Seoul office of the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday morning.Seeking to appeal to some 10 million retail investors in the country, both candidates wore red face masks ― which were provided by the KRX ― as well as red neck ties, signifying their wishes for a bullish market this year. In Korea, stock gains are marked in red, while losses are shown in blue.They each delivered a five-minute speech prior to participating in a countdown to the opening of stock trading at 10 a.m. Monday. Local stock markets usually open at 9 a.m., but was delayed by an hour on Monday. Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential

Jan 3, 2022By Anna J. Park
Presidential candidates seek to appeal to investors at bourse opening
Economy

Osstem embezzlement scandal taints 1st trading session of 2022

Osstem Implant headquarters building in Seoul / Courtesy of Osstem ImplantBy Park Jae-hyukAn Osstem Implant employee fled after allegedly embezzling 188 billion won ($157 million) from his company, causing an indefinite suspension of the dental implant maker's stock transactions on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market during the first trading session of 2022, Osstem's regulatory filing showed Monday.According to sources familiar with the issue, the employee, identified only by his surname Lee, is the same person who became popular last October among the country's retail investors for a 143 billion won acquisition of a 7.62 percent stake in Kosdaq-listed Dongjin Semichem.Seoul Gangseo Police are tracing his whereabouts.“An individual employee in charge of fund management stole a significant amount of our company's money, so immediately after we discovered the embezzlement, we sued him and disclosed this issue in our regulatory filing,” Osstem's investor relations team leader said in a message to shareholders.Osstem said the stolen money amounts to 91.81 percent of its equity ― the

Jan 3, 2022By Park Jae-hyuk
Osstem embezzlement scandal taints 1st trading session of 2022
Economy

Ruling party to issue NFTs for fundraising in presidential election

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung speaks during a conference on virtual assets at the National Assembly in Seoul in this November 2021 file photo. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geunBy Park Jae-hyukThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is set to become the world's first political party to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for fundraising in a presidential election, according to DPK presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's campaign committee, Sunday.NFTs, the latest cryptocurrency phenomenon to gain widespread attention, transform collectibles including digital works of art into unique and verifiable assets that can be traded.Starting this month, the DPK will send non-interchangeable digital images featuring Lee's photos and policies to his supporters who donate their money to his election campaign. The party explained that its NFTs will serve as a kind of bond, so that their holders can exchange the digital assets with other individuals.The election campaign committee's latest fundraising plan followed DPK lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae's announcement on Th

Jan 2, 2022By Park Jae-hyuk
Ruling party to issue NFTs for fundraising in presidential election
  • Yoon pledges to make 'digital platform gov't'
Economy

Will KOSPI index show 'January effect' this year?

gettyimagesbankPresidential election in March expected to have positive impact on stock market By Anna J. ParkInvestors are keenly monitoring whether local stock indices this month would show a “January effect,” a term that refers to a tendency of stock market gains early in the year. Usually, Korean stock indices move upward in the month of January, as retail investors who sold stocks at the end of the year due to taxation reenter the market.Market experts say it's highly likely that the stock market in January will post a better performance. The research teams of securities firms suggest that the main benchmark KOSPI index could rise as high as 3,150 this week. Shinhan Financial Investment has been the most optimistic, saying that the index would move within a range of 2,900 and 3,150 early this month. KB Securities came up with a forecast range of 2,870 and 3,110 points for this week. “A preference for risky assets will still be valid in the month of January, as a number of factors, ranging from an improvement in foreign investors' buying power with calming excha

Jan 2, 2022By Anna J. Park
Will KOSPI index show 'January effect' this year?
Economy

Korea's IPO market to have bumper year in 2022 with mega deals: analysts

Electronic signboards at a Hana Bank dealing room in Seoul show that the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,977.65, Dec. 30, 2021, the last day of stock trading for the year, down 15.64 points, or 0.52 percent, from the previous session. YonhapSouth Korea's initial public offering (IPO) market is expected to have another bumper year in 2022 as a slew of companies, including battery maker LG Energy Solution, are planning for stock market debuts, analysts said Sunday.The amount of money raised via IPOs on the main and tech-heavy stock markets reached a record high of 20.8 trillion won ($17.5 billion) last year, according to industry data.As more firms are preparing to go public with an aim of attracting more than 1 trillion won via IPOs this year, some analysts expect the value of the share sale may top last year's record.LG Energy's IPO is widely viewed as the country's largest share sale deal for this year.LG Energy, the wholly owned subsidiary of LG Chem, plans to offer 34 million new shares in the band of between 257,000 won and 300,000 won apiece. The

Jan 2, 2022
Korea's IPO market to have bumper year in 2022 with mega deals: analysts
Economy

Korea's exports rise 25.8 percent to all-time high in 2021

Container ships are seen loaded with cargo at Busan Port, in this Dec. 7 file photo. Yonhap Exports rose 25.8 percent in 2021 from the previous year to reach an all-time high on the back of solid demand for semiconductors and petroleum products amid a global economic recovery, the industry ministry said Saturday.Outbound shipments stood at $644.54 billion last year, compared with $512.5 billion in 2020, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.This is the highest annual figure since 1956 when the country began compiling trade related data ― the previous record was $604.9 billion set in 2018.The country's exports surpassed the $100 million mark for the first time in 1964, $10 billion in 1977, and reached the $100 billion milestone in 1995 and $600 billion in 2018.Imports spiked 31.5 percent year-on-year to $615.05 billion in 2021, resulting in a trade surplus of $29.49 billion ― the 13th consecutive year that the country's exports exce

Jan 1, 2022
Korea's exports rise 25.8 percent to all-time high in 2021
Economy

Korea to prioritize support for pandemic-hit merchants next year: finance chief

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the government will ramp up efforts to support small merchants next year to help them tide over the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.Finance Minister Hong Nam-kiHong said the government will also prioritize strengthening social safety nets in 2022 to narrow deepening income gaps caused by the pandemic."The government will focus on providing multilayered support to small merchants to help them overcome economic difficulties and make a leap forward," Hong said in his message for the new year. The government plans to swiftly provide compensation to merchants who have suffered business losses due to the stricter antivirus measures. It has set aside 3.2 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) of the budget for the loss compensation plan for next year.To ease their suffering, the government has decided to provide compensation for losses caused by COVID-19 for the first quarter in advance. Around 550,000 self-employed people and merchants will receive 5 million won each first, and the actual assessment of their financial damage and compensation will b

Dec 31, 2021
Korea to prioritize support for pandemic-hit merchants next year: finance chief
Economy

Korea expected to see high inflation level continue in 2022

A woman walks by a greengrocer in a traditional market in Seoul, Dec. 5. Korea Times file Finance ministry to strengthen risk management By Lee Kyung-min Korea has registered 2.5 percent annual headline consumer price inflation in 2021, which is the highest in 10 years, elevating anticipation over the timing and number of the central bank's key rate hikes, the most broad-based policy measure used to bring under control the faster-than-expected increase in goods and services prices. The 2.5 percent inflation measured by Statistics Korea is an addition of 1 percentage point from the 2.4 percent the government had expected, and has not veered off too much from the previous projections. Korea is forecast to register high inflation early next year, as evidenced by the year-on-year figure exceeding the psychologically significant 3 percent for the three consecutive months since October. Further strengthening such expectation is soaring commodities prices notably crude

Dec 31, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Korea expected to see high inflation level continue in 2022
Economy

Omicron, climate change factors weighing on crypto market

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min The cryptocurrency market is undergoing significant adjustments, rapidly weakening investor sentiment that has remained largely undeterred over the past few years amid the lack of regulations and cheap liquidity pumped in to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The future course of the digital financial investment vehicle will be determined by how heavy the regulations become, a factor equally critical to the performance of the asset, the capital gains tax on which has been delayed for another year.Some say it remains unclear whether Bitcoin, one of major cryptocurrencies, will be able to withstand the slew of changes in the macroeconomic market conditions unfavorable to investors, notably the end of tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve and subsequent rate hikes next year. Others say that high price volatility could become extreme at times, but that the overall uptrend will not be wildly upended, an assessment reflecting the continued increase in the number of highly risk-averse institutional investors, whose behavior is almost exclusively governed by the gu

Dec 31, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Omicron, climate change factors weighing on crypto market
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