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Sentiment among large corporations in South Korea faltered as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted at an earlier-than-expected hike in interest rates, a local business lobby survey showed Thursday.
Business survey index (BSI) for April, a gauge of business environment outlook for the upcoming month, declined to 99.5 from the prior month's 104.4, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).
The index was based on the survey response from the country's 600 largest companies by sales. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumbered optimists.
The dimmer outlook came as the U.S. central bank chief hinted at a rate hike, possibly in the first half of next year.
Yellen said after the regular policy meeting last week that the "considerable period" between the end of the Fed's quantitative easing and the first rate hike could be six months.
The Fed decided to reduce its monthly bond purchases by 10 billion U.S. dollars further to 55 billion dollars from April after scaling back the program by the same size twice.
Concerns emerged over the Chinese economy. Exports of the world ' s second-largest economy sank 18.1 percent in February from a year earlier, with its trade balance recording a 22.98-billion- dollar deficit in the same month.
On the domestic front, economic indicators showed a rosy picture. Job creation in South Korea surged 835,000 in February from a year earlier, rising the most in around 11 years.
South Korea's retail sales increased 2.4 percent in January from a month earlier, the highest growth in 34 months, while industrial production rose 1.4 percent in January."Macroeconomic data in the domestic economy showed a modest recovery, but negative factors remained such as the sluggish growth in China," said Kim Yong-ok, head of the FKI's economic policy team.
