Buying a Home Gets Even Harder... Mortgage Rates Hit 14-Month High [3-Minute Brief]

[At a Glance]

①Average bank mortgage rate in January at 4.29%... "Highest in two years"

②Samsung's Jay Y. Lee's stock assets surpass 40 trillion won... Up 26 trillion won in just 8 months

③Will KEPCO and KHNP's 'international arbitration' move to Korea?... Government recommends transfer

MARKET INDEX

○New York Stock Exchange: Closes mixed, remaining mostly flat despite US-Iran war

○Geopolitical uncertainty rises... Gold prices surge, dollar also strengthens

○Oil prices jump 7% as Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz

TOP 3 NEWS

■ "It's already hard enough to buy a house, but will prices go up even more?" Mortgage rates hit a two-year high

○Mortgage rate at 4.29% per year... Up 0.06 percentage points from the previous month
○Rises for four consecutive months amid higher market interest rates
○Fixed-rate mortgages drop by 11 percentage points in just one month

■ Samsung Electronics' surge boosts Jay Y. Lee's stock assets, making him the first to join the 40 trillion won club

○According to a survey by Korea CXO Institute
○Combined stock value of four Samsung family members exceeds 91 trillion won
○Number of 10 trillion won club members increases to eight

■ "Resolve the nuclear power plant construction cost dispute worth over 1 trillion won domestically," government urges Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to transfer arbitration

○Prolonged dispute over Barakah nuclear power plant settlement raises concerns over cost and technology leakage
○Order to switch arbitration from LCIA (UK) to KCAB (Korea)
○Seeking solutions to concerns over breach of duty at public institutions through a consultative body

Graphic News: Daily trading value surges to 23 trillion won, first-ever surplus... Performance in numbers

○Trading value soars 5.1 times

○Absorbed demand from pre- and aftermarket trading

○Fee reduction competition creates a "catfish effect"

the Chart: Diversifying risk by investing in hundreds of assets simultaneously... EMP funds holding multiple ETFs gain popularity

○EMP fund assets under management up 77.30% in one year

○Invest in multiple ETFs for a stable diversification effect

○"Appeal lies in relieving investment fatigue"

Today's Key Schedule

○Domestic

○International

00:00 US ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (February)

08:50 Japan Capital Expenditure (YoY) (Q4)

17:00 Spain Unemployment Change (February)

19:00 UK Spring Budget Statement

◇Lunch & Commute Weather

○Lowest temperature 3℃(▼3℃) ｜Highest temperature: 12℃(▲5℃)
○Chance of precipitation: 60% in the morning ｜ 20% in the afternoon
○Fine dust: Good in the morning ｜ Good in the afternoon

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This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.