SEOUL, June 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Dividend payouts by listed firms in South Korea dropped in March from a year ago amid coronavirus uncertainties, with the upcoming June interim payouts also expected to decline, data showed Sunday. A total of 18 listed companies paid a combined 2.68 trillion won (US$2.23 billion) to their shareholders for [...]
SEOUL, June 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s main stock index hit the highest level in valuation since 2002, highlighting stock prices’ roller-coaster gains compared with the actual earnings of the pandemic-hit companies, analysts said Monday. The price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) stood at 25, the highest since [...]
SEOUL, June 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Earnings forecasts for South Korea’s listed firms rebounded from a long downturn last week amid rising hopes for their possible exit from the coronavirus shock, a market tracker said Monday. Companies listed on the country’s main stock market saw the average estimate of their earnings per share (EPS) for [...]
SEOUL, June 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Emboldened by a recent market bull run, South Korean retail investors are scrambling to borrow money to buy shares in anticipation of price gains down the road, data showed Friday. Outstanding margin loans to retail investors stood at 11.4 trillion won (US$9.3 billion) as of Wednesday, according to the [...]
SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The market capitalization of Samsung Biologics Co. and internet giant Naver Corp. has jumped sharply on South Korea’s main stock market over a one-year period, despite the coronavirus impact on the equities markets, data showed Friday. Samsung Biologics’ market cap stood at 40.3 trillion won (US$32.6 billion) at Thursday [...]
SEOUL, May 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Individual investors are flocking to direct stock investment, choosing to bet on their own picks over brokerage houses’ funds, data showed Tuesday. Outstanding margin loans came to 9.95 trillion won (US$8.14 billion) as of Friday, up 10.1 percent from a month ago, according to the data from the Korea [...]
SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors continued to net sell South Korean stocks in April amid the coronavirus pandemic but boosted their purchase of local bonds, central bank data showed Wednesday. Foreigners net sold US$4.32 billion worth of local shares in the month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Individual investors accumulated 50 trillion won (US$41 billion) in stocks and stock investment deposits, holding greater influence over the benchmark index since the beginning of the year, data showed Monday. From Jan. 2 to May 8, retail investors bought a net 30.8 trillion won worth of local shares, 26.1 [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors have ramped up their investment in South Korean bonds this year amid the country’s relatively favorable economic conditions, data showed Monday. Offshore investors held 140.9 trillion won (US$115 billion) worth of listed government and corporate bonds as of end-April, up 17 trillion won from the end of [...]
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Gold funds in South Korea have shined over the past three months on investors’ flight to safety amid the coronavirus pandemic, but oil funds have fared dismally on tumbling crude prices, a market tracker said Wednesday. The three-month average return of 12 local gold funds with assets of 1 [...]