(Korea Economic Research Institute)
South Korea's business sentiment slightly fell for June due to deteriorating profitability in the manufacturing industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local think tank said Monday.
The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 102.6 for next month, down 5.1 points from May, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement.
The index stayed above 100 for the fourth straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in 34 months, it said.
A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a figure below the benchmark means the opposite.
"Global chip shortage and delayed delivery of parts are weighing on the bottom line of manufacturers which suffers from lack of inventories," KERI said.
KERI said 390 out of the 600 companies responded to the survey, which was taken from May 12-18. (Yonhap)