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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Kim Jong-il Death Rumors Rattle Markets |
| 2011-11-09 |
| Rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death spread through the South Korean stock market on Tuesday, driving share prices down and causing the won to plunge against the U.S. dollar. The KOSPI hovered around the 1,915 point level, similar to Monday's close, but fell steeply at around 2:20 p.m. when the rumors hit the market. It closed down 0.8 percent (15.96 points) at 1,903.14. The won, which had been slowly strengthening, reversed direction and closed at W1,121 per dollar, down W4.1 from the previous day's close. As the rumor spread, shares of defense-related companies surged. S&T Dynamics, which makes weapons and aviation systems, closed up 6 percent at W15,900, while Speco, which makes fin stabilizers for naval destroyers, ended up 4.2 percent. Embedded systems developer MDS Tech gained 3.7 percent, and Huneed Technologies, which makes communication and security systems, 3.5 percent. A Unification Ministry official said there was no substance to the rumors. "The North Korean media reported a public appearance by Kim Hak-kyun of Daewoo Securities said, "If investors had taken these rumors seriously, the market would have reacted more severely. The rumors spread through on-line messaging services and were viewed more as gossip, so the impact wasn't that big." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Track the cognac imports... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-11-09 00:50 |
| #1 How can we tell Stumpy is alive? |
| Posted by: Steven 2011-11-09 00:11 |