biz sentiment-October

S. Korea's biz sentiment worsens for Oct.: poll

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's business sentiment fell for October due to a coronavirus resurgence, rising oil prices and other negatives, a poll showed Thursday.

The survey of 2,824 companies, taken by the Bank of Korea, showed the country's business sentiment index (BSI) stood at 86 for October, down 1 point from September.

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The index measures manufacturers' outlook on business conditions in the coming month.

The BSI for manufacturing companies decreased to 93 from 96, with that for the non-manufacturing sector staying unchanged at 81.

Meanwhile, the BSI for current business conditions came to 84 for September, down 3 points from the previous month.

The business conditions BSI for the manufacturing industry fell 5 points to 90, with that for non-manufacturing companies declining 2 points to 79.

The central bank attributed the country's worsening business confidence to the continued spread of COVID-19, a rise in crude prices and logistics costs, and a drop in working days due to the Chuseok holiday, the Korean autumn harvest celebration that ended last Wednesday.

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases have remained over 1,000 for the last 86 days despite strengthened virus curbs to slow down the nationwide spread.

Despite weak business confidence, South Korea's exports have been strong in recent months, with overseas shipments jumping 23 percent on-year in the first 20 days of September.

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