Korea Economic Daily

Nomura sets 4 million won target for SK Hynix Price targets raised sharply after May 15 selloff Nomura says P/E, not P/B, should be the benchmark Nomura Securities has raised its price targets for Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. to 590,000

Trump faces stock-manipulation questions Praised Palantir on social media after buying shares Bought as much as $530,000 worth in March US filing disclosed only a range, not the exact amount Shares rose from $128 to $152 after the post President Dona

Global investors are betting aggressively on technology and artificial intelligence shares, but a rise in long-term Treasury yields is amplifying warnings that the stock rally could falter. Bloomberg reported on May 16 that interviews with 32 asset m

The KOSPI climbed above 8,000 for the first time ever in May, but investors increased purchases of exchange-traded funds that bet on a market decline. According to Koscom CHECK on May 17, KODEX 200 Futures Inverse 2X recorded net inflows of 327.6 bil

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok says a one-day halt at Samsung chip plants could cost as much as $720 million South Korea’s government has for the first time officially raised the possibility of invoking emergency arbitration as a last-resort response to

Walmart, Target earnings due this week Results may shed light on America’s K-shaped economy Shanghai stocks may take cues from US-Iran ceasefire talks Investors in New York will focus on earnings from Nvidia and major US retailers, as well as develop

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok urged Samsung Electronics management and labor on Saturday to resolve their dispute through dialogue and compromise rather than a strike. He also said the government would consider all available measures, including emergen

Collaboration with KG Inicis, Kaia and OpenAsset Remittance fees cut by 87% QR payments at offline kiosks KB Financial Group said May 17 that it has completed a proof of concept covering the full process of financial services using a won-denominated

Samsung Electronics and its union will resume talks on May 18 Atmosphere shifted after Chairman Lee Jae-yong returned to South Korea Union says it will strike from May 21 if negotiations fail Samsung Electronics Co. and its labor union will resume ne

NH Investment & Securities sees the Kospi trading between 7,200 and 8,100 this week The Kospi is entering a consolidation phase this week, from May 18 to May 22, as investors weigh domestic and external risks including the war in the Middle East and

Easing non-tariff barriers on farm products also discussed Aircraft purchases, engine supply cooperation on agenda China said it reached a tentative agreement with the US to cut tariffs and ease non-tariff barriers following recent talks in Seoul and

Only commercial vessels and countries cooperating with Iran would benefit, lawmaker says Tehran also formalizes plan to collect costs and fees Iran said it will soon unveil a new control system to manage ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Ebr

A restaurant map built from South Korean lawmakers’ meal receipts was abruptly taken offline just one week after launch. According to a May 16 report by Hankyung.com, the “Lawmakers’ Restaurant Map” app developed by blockchain tech startup Arcpoint w

Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee apologized to the South Korean public and customers worldwide, saying the company’s internal problems had caused anxiety and eroded trust. He also urged the labor union to resolve the conflict quickly, saying t

US stocks fell on May 15 as hotter-than-expected inflation data and disappointment over a meeting between US and Chinese leaders weighed on sentiment. Chipmakers led the decline after Nvidia snapped an eight-session winning streak. The S&P 500 fell 9

U.S. stocks closed lower across the board on May 15, pressured by a sharp rise in global bond yields, renewed inflation fears fueled by high oil prices, and disappointment after a summit between the U.S. and Chinese leaders ended without a breakthrou

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has accelerated work on the detailed framework for tokenized securities after holding the second meeting of a public-private consultative body on issuance, distribution and market infrastructure. The FSC sa

South Korea’s National Pension Fund Management Committee has formed a broad consensus in favor of raising the target allocation to domestic equities in its asset-allocation plan for the next five years, according to people familiar with the matter. S

President Lee Jae-myung has stepped up his defense of expansionary fiscal policy, brushing aside concerns about rising government debt. Early on May 15, Lee shared on X, formerly Twitter, a Korea Economic Daily article quoting an International Moneta

“The policy rate level I see as appropriate would likely be about 0.125 percentage point above the average or median,” Kim Jin-il, a member of the Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Board, said on May 15. Kim said it is worth accepting some sacrifice in

Margin debt rises to 36.47 trillion won, net short positions exceed 20 trillion won as trading sentiment heats up As sharp swings in the Kospi become more frequent, bets on both rising and falling share prices are surging at the same time, with margi

The VKOSPI, known as South Korea’s fear gauge, rose sharply after the Kospi touched the 8,000 mark and then plunged. The index climbed close to levels seen in March, when the war between the US and Iran was at its height, pointing to continued volati

Shift in Leverage Comes Into View in Beijing Trump Praises China While Staying Silent on Xi’s Warning President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, the first by a sitting US president in nine years, underscored subtle shifts in the balance of power betw

Meets Xi for tea on final day of China visit Also discusses Iran and the Strait of Hormuz President Donald Trump said the US had reached “fantastic trade deals” with China, calling the outcome a win for both countries. Trump made the remarks on May 1

Foreign investors pulled a net $2.13 billion from South Korea’s stock and bond markets in April, marking a third straight month of outflows. The scale of withdrawals shrank sharply from March, when the monthly outflow hit a record high. Bank of Korea

China's Foreign Ministry said a summit in Beijing between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping produced a series of new agreements. In a question-and-answer statement posted on its website on May 15, a ministry spokesperson said

The Kospi fell more than 3% in intraday trading on May 15 after briefly breaking above 8,000 early in the session, as profit-taking emerged. As of 11:23 a.m., the benchmark index was down 254.44 points, or 3.19%, at 7,726.97. The Kospi opened 0.37% l

China Promotes a ‘New Order’ While the US Focuses on Trade Beijing Seeks to Redefine Ties as Washington Pursues Practical Diplomacy The gap between Washington and Beijing’s reading of the latest US-China summit has come into clearer focus after the l

"Earnings-driven market" … target index raised 40% KB Securities has raised its 2026 Kospi target to 10,500, lifting its forecast by 40%. The brokerage cited stronger-than-expected earnings improvement in the domestic stock market as memory semicondu