Seoul, June 25 (IANS) South Korea’s business sentiment worsened for the first time in three months in June on sluggish construction and travel sectors, a central bank survey showed on Thursday.

The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) for all industries stood at 97.7 in June, down 1.2 points from a 3 1/2-year high of 98.9 in May, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first on-month decline since March, reports Yonhap news agency.

The index measures corporate outlooks on overall business conditions, with a reading below 100 indicating that pessimists outnumber optimists.

The CBSI among manufacturers climbed 0.4 point from a month earlier to 101.2 in June, marking the highest point since August 2022, when the reading stood at 102.9.

The manufacturing index surpassed the 100 mark for the second consecutive month after topping the 100 threshold in May for the first time since August 2022.

However, the index among non-manufacturers went down 2.1 points to 95.4 weighed down by low business sentiment among construction and travel-related companies.

The outlook for July also dropped 2.4 points to 95.2 from the previous month’s prospect of 97.6, the survey showed.

The economic sentiment index, or ESI, which reflects sentiment among both consumers and businesses, went down 0.7 point to 96.8 for June.

The survey, conducted earlier this month, involved 3,184 companies, including 1,780 manufacturing firms, the BOK said.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s financial assets in the United States reached a fresh record high last year on increased investment in the U.S. stock market amid a rally on Wall Street, a central bank report showed on Thursday.

The outstanding value of financial assets in the U.S. held by South Korean individuals and companies reached US$1.15 trillion at the end of last year, up $204.2 billion from a year before, according to the report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The reading topped the $1 trillion mark for the first time and has broken yearly records for the third consecutive year since 2023.

The amount also accounted for the largest share of overall overseas financial assets at 47.1 percent, according to the BOK.

The BOK said the record financial assets in the U.S. came as South Korean individuals sharply increased their investment in the U.S. stock market amid a bullish run on Wall Street last year.

Koreans’ investments in U.S stocks totalled $802.8 billion, up from the previous high of $178.6 billion reported a year ago.

—IANS

na/