Latest figures suggest that South Korea’s department store sales rose the most in eight months in February, due to the Lunar New Year holidays.
South Korea’s three biggest department store chains gained 4.7 per cent from a year earlier, the commerce ministry has confirmed. In January 2007, sales fell about 6.2 per cent, one of the biggest drops in more than two years.
Experts are of the opinion that increase of sale at stores like Shinsegae Co., Lotte Shopping Co. and Hyundai Department Store Co. show that the household spending may strengthen and boost the country’s economy.
The Kospi index gained 1.3 per cent to 1426.79 in Seoul, breaking a two-day drop as Asian stocks recovered. Hyundai Department Store’s shares climbed 3.2 per cent and shares in Shinsegae gained 0.8 per cent.
