South Korean stocks started higher on Thursday as investor sentiment got a boost from Wall Street gains sparked by growing optimism about the U.S. economic recovery, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 11.36 points, or 0.57 percent, to trade at 2,000.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech shares were in focus with market leader Samsung Electronic...

The planned merger of Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext is to likely to deprive the Korea Exchange of the status as the world’s most actively traded derivative market. The KRX, the world’s No. 1 derivative market, took up 15.9 percent of the trade volume worldwide with about 1.78 billion transactions in the first half of 2010, the Futures Industry Association said. The German-U.S. bourse all...

Daewoo Securities and Samsung Securities increased their dominance in the domestic market with sharp rises in profits last year. Operating profits of the Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities in the three last quarters of 2010 made 37.63 percent of total raised in the industry, the Korea Exchange said Wednesday. Daewoo topped the list by raising an operating profit of 269.5 billion won follo...

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Korea’s second-largest money manager, plans to boost the number of overseas employees by as much as 30 percent this year and acquire companies to strengthen coverage of emerging markets. Foreign hires in 2011 will mostly be fund managers, analysts and marketing personnel, chief executive officer Koo Jae-sang said in an interview, declining to say where the emp...

Global stock exchange tie-ups to reduce trading options for Korea Exchange A fresh wave of international stock exchange integration poses a bigger challenge to Korea Exchange lagging behind in trading infrastructure and networks with major global players, analysts said. Three major alliances are under way among top bourses in the U.S. and Europe representing more than 40 percent of the world’s ...

More than one in 10 overseas corporations owned by Korea’s 30 major conglomerates are based in tax havens, a website reported on Monday. According to online data service provider chaebol.com, Korea’s 30 major business groups operate 231 subsidiaries in tax-havens such as Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Samsung Group topped the list with 38 units in tax havens including Ho...

After spearheading last year’s bull run of the Korean market, foreigners have shifted to big net sellers of local shares this year due to concern over global inflation and other negative factors, industry sources said Sunday. As of Friday, foreign investors sold a net 2.06 trillion won ($1.83 billion) worth of Korean stocks, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association and Hana Daetoo...

Seoul stocks plunged to a two-month low on Friday as foreigners continued their selling spree and an interest rate freeze stoked investor jitters, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sank 31.31 points, or 1.56 percent, to 1,977.19, extending a losing streak to a fourth session. The benchmark index fell below the 2,000-point level for the first time this year, sinking t...