Bond sales rise in January

Bond sales in South Korea grew from a month earlier in January due to a sharp increase in corporate bond issues, data showed Thursday. The value of bonds sold here last month came to 64.2 trillion won (US$48.4 billion), up 24.6 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA). Corporate bond issuance jumped to 14.7 trillion won from 2 trillion won over the cited period due to higher bond interest rates. The yield on three-year Treasury bonds closed at 3.261 percent in January, up 10.7 basis points from a month earlier. Demand forecasting for corporate bonds came to 9.47 trillion won in January, up 4.82 trillion won from the same month last year, according to KOFIA. Meanwhile, individual investors net purchased 3.7 trillion won worth of bonds last month, with foreign investors also net purchasing 4.6 trillion won, including 1.9 trillion won in government bonds. Source: Yonhap News Agency