Even government bonds can bite, South Korea's regulator warns SEOUL, July 06 (AJP) — South Korea's financial regulator on Monday warned that even government bonds, long regarded by many retail investors as one of the safest investments, can generate significant losses if interest rates rise. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued the warning as part of its latest investor education campaign on common investment disputes after complaints increased from investors who suffered unexpected losses after buying low-risk bonds, inc July 6, 2026

Seoul's 24-hour FX market tests local banks' staffing capacity SEOUL, July 06 (AJP) - South Korea began round-the-clock foreign exchange trading on Monday, but while the country's largest lenders are relying on overseas dealing desks to cover the new hours, smaller regional banks say they are scrambling to find enough people to stay awake. "We need more staff, but there are limits to how quickly we can hire people for this," one foreign-exchange official at a regional bank told AJP on condition of anonymity. "We will proba July 6, 2026

Durability of Seoul's bull questioned as leverage exceeds retail trade SEOUL, July 06 (AJP) — As the KOSPI correction enters a third week, retail investors remain the primary buffer against relentless foreign selling, but much of their firepower is borrowed, raising questions about the durability of Seoul's record-setting bull market. Outstanding margin loans and stock-backed lending averaged a record 61.98 trillion won ($39.8 billion) per trading day during the April-June quarter, exceeding the combined average daily trading value of 52.5 July 6, 2026

KOSPI slips as investors turn cautious ahead of Samsung's 2Q earnings results SEOUL, July 6 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI surrendered an early gain of nearly 3 percent on Monday and ended lower, as foreign and institutional investors resumed selling ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary second-quarter earnings set to be announced on Tuesday, which are seen as a key test of whether last week’s chip selloff was excessive. The index shed 37.01 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 8,051.33. The retreat masked a split in the chip trade July 6, 2026

AI boom lifts KOSPI in H1 but focus shifts to earnings SEOUL, July 6 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks were South Korea's biggest gainers in the first half of this year, as the AI rally spread beyond semiconductors into infrastructure such as power equipment and cables, according to a Korea Exchange analysis released Monday. Investors now watch whether second-quarter earnings will turn those expectations into results. Top gainers on the country's benchmark KOSPI for the first six months of this year included semiconduc July 6, 2026

Asia markets mostly lower ahead of big news related to Korean chip giants SEOUL, July 06 (AJP) — Asian equities opened the week cautiously Monday, with investors awaiting a string of major developments for South Korea's semiconductor sector, including Samsung Electronics' earnings guidance and SK hynix's landmark U.S. listing. As of 10:50 a.m., the benchmark KOSPI slipped 0.58 percent to 8,033.76, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ tumbled 3.60 percent to 837.32. Retail investors were the market's only net buyers, purchasing 1 trillion July 6, 2026

U.S. stock buying seen keeping won weak through Feb. 2027 SEOUL, July 04 (AJP) - South Korea's won is likely to remain under sustained depreciation pressure through at least February 2027, driven by surging overseas equity investments by Korean households and companies, particularly into U.S. stocks, according to a report released Saturday by the Korea Institute of Finance. The report said the dollar-won exchange rate has undergone a structural upward shift since 2024 and is expected to stay near current levels for another 10 months, July 4, 2026

Bond rally signals sobriety on Korea's economy – weak without chips SEOUL, July 03 (AJP) - From the look of the sovereign bond market in July, South Korea's economy is running solidly on strong exports while inflation, despite energy shocks from the prolonged Gulf crisis, remains broadly contained around 3 percent, suggesting the Bank of Korea may need no more than one additional rate hike from the current 2.50 percent. Compared with the wild swings in equities and the won's slide to near three-decade lows, South Korea's bond market has July 3, 2026

KOSPI rebounds 5.8 percent on chip rally SEOUL, July 03 (AJP) - South Korean stocks staged their sharpest rebound of the year on Friday, as institutional buying and a fresh artificial intelligence catalyst for Samsung Electronics erased most of the previous session's rout in a single day. The benchmark KOSPI surged 5.8 percent to close at 8,088.3. The index added 440.3 points, recovering the bulk of Thursday's 7.9 percent plunge, as a report that Anthropic is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture a cu July 3, 2026

Stock investing in Korea now means buying Samsung and SK hynix SEOUL, July 03 (AJP) — The hotter South Korea's stock market becomes, the narrower it grows. Investing in Korean equities is now synonymous with owning Samsung Electronics or SK hynix. "People don't ask whether you own stocks anymore. They ask whether you own Samjeonnix," insurance planner Lee Min-joo said, referring to the Korean investor shorthand combining Samjeon (Samsung Electronics) and SK hynix. "Those two stocks dominate almost every conversati July 3, 2026