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  Seoul's FX battle costs $4 bn over the last two months SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - South Korea has deployed nearly every tool in its policy playbook to defend the won, which authorities say has weakened “excessively” beyond its fundamentals — a view shared even by the U.S. Treasury secretary. Measures have ranged from pressuring public and private institutions to sell dollar holdings to offering tax incentives aimed at drawing capital back home. Yet despite these efforts, the national coffers have paid a heavy price. February 4, 2026
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  UAE push into digital finance signals shift to nation-level blockchain adoption SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - The United Arab Emirates is signaling a fundamental shift in the global cryptocurrency market as digital assets enter a "nation-level phase" of adoption, according to Xin Yan, the CEO of blockchain technology company Sign. Yan, whose firm has supported government blockchain initiatives in multiple countries including the UAE, said the transition is marked by a move from experimental pilot programs to systematic execution. This shift is expected February 4, 2026
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  Korean markets enjoy solo record-setting run despite broad Asian retreat SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) – South Korean bourses on Wednesday remained unfazed by broad Asian retreat following overnight Wall Street fall on concerns over disruption in the software sector. The KOSPI pushed onto new territory of 5,300, up 0.8 percent at 5,331.98 as of 11:00 a.m. and the secondary KOSDAQ also up 0.8 percent at 1,153.36. Shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia rose in early trading as their U.S. units reported record sales results. Hyundai Motor’s U.S. subsi February 4, 2026
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  Greater rights offerings and fewer IPOs amid big-cap-led Korean stock boom SEOUL, Feb. 04 (AJP) - South Korea’s equity issuance saw a significant jump of approximately 55 percent last year, fueled by large-scale rights offerings. In contrast, new shares issued through initial public offerings (IPOs) contracted, underscoring a deepening funding freeze for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and venture firms. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Wednesday, public equity issuance last year totaled 13.71 trillion won ($ February 4, 2026
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  KOSPI, Nikkei rebound from 'Warsh Shock,' hit fresh record highs SEOUL, Feb 03 (AJP) - Asian equity markets staged a decisive rebound Tuesday, shaking off jitters dubbed the “Warsh Shock,” as South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI surged nearly 7 percent to a fresh all-time high and fueling a regionwide rally. The sharp recovery followed gains on Wall Street after U.S. purchasing managers’ index data returned to expansion for the first time in a year, easing concerns about an economic slowdown. Market sentiment also improved as i February 3, 2026
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  Asian markets recover as Warsh shock fades, KOSPI surges above 5,100 SEOUL, February 03 (AJP) -Asian markets recovered Tuesday, led by the Korean market erasing much of the previous session’s steep losses after a brief bout of panic triggered by the nomination of hawkish monetary policy advocate Kevin Warsh as the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair. The benchmark KOSPI surged 4.16 percent to move back above the 5,100 level, after briefly dipping below the 5,000 mark on Monday's slide of 5.26 percent . As of 10 a.m., the index was up 206.07 p February 3, 2026
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  UPDATE: Korea's inflation cools to 2% in January on soft fuel prices, weak demand *Updated with additional information SEOUL, February 03 (AJP) - South Korea’s inflation eased back to the central bank’s target level in January, as softer fuel prices and subdued domestic demand outweighed lingering pressures from a weak currency. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.0 percent in January from a year earlier, slowing from 2.3 percent in December and 2.4 percent in both October and November. February 3, 2026
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  Trump's Warsh pick triggers panic in Korean markets for strong USD bias SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) - Korean markets saw panicky selling on Monday following Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, with equities and the won sliding sharply on concerns that his policy framework could reinforce dollar strength and drain global liquidity. Whether Warsh would ultimately comply with Trump’s long-standing calls for lower borrowing costs remains uncertain. Investors, however, moved quickly to price in a February 2, 2026
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  Asian equities tumble as Fed leadership shift triggers selloff SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) - Asian equities tumbled on Monday, with South Korean markets suffering steep losses as global risk appetite deteriorated amid renewed uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy, prompting investors to dump risk assets across the region. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 5.26 percent to close at 4,949.67, the index’s sharpest single-day decline since April 7, 2025. The index opened sharply lower and extended losses through the session as foreign February 2, 2026
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  Hawkish Fed expectations weigh on markets, drag Korean shares lower SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) – Asian stocks fell broadly after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, prompting investors to scale back expectations for further interest-rate cuts. Warsh is widely viewed as an inflation hawk, and his nomination triggered a shift in rate expectations that rippled through financial markets. South Korean equities opened lower, U.S. stock futures weakened, gold and silver prices fell February 2, 2026