sales

March 8 (Asia Today) — Forced stock sales in South Korea surged this week as rising market volatility triggered margin calls for investors who borrowed money to buy shares.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, forced liquidations totaled 77.7 billion won ($58 million) as of Wednesday, the eighth-largest amount recorded since the data began in 2006.

Outstanding margin balances also climbed to 2.15 trillion won ($1.6 billion), the highest level on record.

The sharp increase follows a strong rally in South Korean stocks earlier this year, driven largely by optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and semiconductor demand. However, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have increased market volatility and halted the rally, prompting forced selling by heavily leveraged investors.

Margin balances occur when investors purchase stocks through brokerage accounts but fail to fully pay for the shares by the settlement deadline. If the funds are not repaid within two business days, brokerage firms may liquidate the holdings to recover the debt.

Analysts say the surge in forced sales highlights structural vulnerabilities in the South Korean stock market.

After tensions escalated in the Middle East, major East Asian markets including Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong fell about 1% to 5% on the first trading day. South Korea’s market, however, dropped more than 12%, reflecting its heavier concentration in semiconductor stocks that had previously surged during the AI-driven rally.

The scale of outstanding margin balances has more than doubled since the start of the year. On the first trading day of 2026, unpaid balances totaled about 927.3 billion won ($690 million).

Because forced liquidations typically follow unpaid margin balances from the previous trading day, analysts warn that additional selling pressure could emerge if the outstanding balances remain elevated.

Yang Jun-seok said investors relying on borrowed funds should adopt a more cautious strategy.

“While the AI rally could continue supporting the broader market, volatility may increase due to developments related to Iran,” Yang said. “Investors using leverage are particularly vulnerable to market shocks and should consider exit strategies.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260309010002100

HARRY STYLES has reason for plenty more disco dancing after scoring the biggest opening week of sales for a UK artist since Adele four years ago.

He released his album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally on Friday and I can reveal he sold 125,000 copies in the UK in the first two days alone.

The massive figure means he has already eclipsed the first week sales of his last album Harry’s House, which sold 113k copies in seven days in 2022.

It’s likely to be the third fastest selling British album of the last decade and the biggest since Adele’s 30 which shifted 261k in its first week in 2021.

Over on the singles chart, he looks set to occupy all three top spots with American Girls currently in the lead at No1, followed by former chart topper Aperture at No2 and Ready, Steady, Go! at No3.

And the figures globally are massive too, as Harry scored the biggest album debut of 2026 on Spotify worldwide with 63million streams on Friday.

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The killer news comes after former One Direction star Harry smashed his One Night Only performance in Manchester’s Co-op Live on Friday night.

Fans who didn’t manage to get their hands on the £20 tickets, which were sold in a ballot, can now watch the show back on Netflix after it premiered on there last night.

Following the gig, Harry flew to the US to be in the audience for Saturday Night Live, where he will perform and host the show this weekend.

Chatting with Ryan Gosling, who was in the hot seat, Harry, who previously hosted and sang during an episode in 2019, said: “It’s been awhile, so I wanted to watch, get a feel for it.”

Insiders said the stripped back set, which saw Harry performing his new album from start to finish, will be ramped up for his upcoming 12 Wembley Stadium shows.

A source said: “Harry is celebrating this new era with an incredible stage set up.

“His team are building an epic set for the Wembley residency. Because he’s not moving around, they can really go to town.

“There will be enormous big screens and likely fireworks at the end of the shows.

“Harry gave his fans a taste of what is to come from the shows during the Brit Awards when he did an amazing choreographed routine as he sang Aperture.

“These shows are going down in history.”

I was lucky enough to be in Manchester’s Co-op Live to see Harry in action on Friday night and can confirm this album sounds incredible live.

His decision to lock away camera phones was masterful, as I could see the 20,000-odd fans properly connecting with his music – rather than watching him through an iPhone screen.

I think Harry should keep the ban in place when it comes to his Wembley shows, which kick off on June 12.

Enjoying music in the moment is the best feeling in the world — and Harry has reminded everyone, myself included, of that.

LIZZO is back and she’s riding higher than ever.

The About Damn Time singer headlined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Black Heritage Night six years after her performance there was cancelled because of Covid.

And she made up for lost time and entered the ring to the sounds of the Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul marching band playing Chamillionaire’s 2005 hit Ridin.

During her set, Lizzo whisked punters through her hits including Truth Hurts and Good As Hell and gave fans a thrill as she pulled out her flute to play the melody of Houston native, American rapper Mike Jones’s song Still Tippin’.

Speaking after her set, Lizzo said: “You have no idea how much this night means to me.

“This night will forever change my life.”

I’m a massive fan of Lizzo’s and last saw her on stage at Glastonbury back in 2023.

Please can she come back soon?

LOLA AND JAMES ON TRACK

LOLA YOUNG is showing no signs of slowing down.

Just last week she performed a near sell-out show at the London Palladium and now I can reveal she’s back in the studio.

Insiders tell me Lola has been getting to work with James Blake with the pair recording after a chance meeting last year.

A source said: “James and Lola have been in the studio working on a few songs and hopefully at least one of the tracks will end up on her next album.”

After being forced to cancel her tour last year to focus on her health, Lola has also announced she will play Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and London in June.

It’s great to see her back.

Rita’s got our hearts racing

RITA ORA isn’t a woman who does things by halves.

And when she performed at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend she dressed up like a chequered flag.

Rita teamed her black and white jacket with a pair of tiny black pants and stockings for her performance, which saw her singing some of her biggest hits – including her 2012 breakout song Hot Right Now.

Over the weekend, Basement Jaxx also performed a headline set at the race – which was won by British racing driver George Russell – with DJ Duke Dumont putting on the final show last night with an epic turn on the decks.

BOY GEORGE is to appear on Eurovision – but will be representing San Marino instead of the United Kingdom.

The Culture Club legend will feature on the tune Superstar, performed by Italian singer Senhit, who has qualified for the tiny nation.

He didn’t appear at the regional selection event on Friday night, in which Senhit won her place, but I’m told he does intend to be on stage in Vienna at the contest in May.

She previously represented San Marino in 2021 with the track Adrenalina, which had another famous feature, as American rapper Flo Rida joined her on stage.

Despite the special guest that year she finished 22 out of 26, so Boy George will be hoping to improve on that.

But given the UK came 19th last that year, perhaps George has the right idea singing for somebody else.

LADY GAGA has hinted she will marry fiancé Michael Polansky any day now.

Gaga, whose tour ends in the US on April 13, sent a note into pal Bruno Mars’s iHeartRadio livestream.

She said: “Me and my fiancé have been travelling all year, but we’re getting married soon. We were hoping you could choose a special song for us.”

TRAITOR ALAN SAYS TOO MUCH

ALAN CARR has called his upcoming comedy tour, Have I Said Too Much, and I can confirm he has.

But it’s bloody hilarious. During a small gig at the Soho Theatre in London on Saturday night, he took pops at his Celebrity Traitors co-stars – and had the crowd in stitches.

Alan said: “Wasn’t I good in The Traitors? Was I good or were the other celebrities just s**t?

“They were thick as mince and as stupid. When I laughed in their face and said: ‘I’m a faithful,’ I went home and packed.

“What more could I have done? I could have come down in that cloak with the severed head of CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN and they still would have gone: ‘I think it’s JOE MARLER.’”

Alan added: “Do you think I killed Paloma Faith first? No – I killed Clare Balding. We shoved her in the coffin but could not get the lid down because of that quiff.”

DR CALL FOR MUSO PETE

HE went from playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It to becoming Doctor Who, and then trying his hand at music.

And after his second album, Sweet Illusions, was released last year, I’m told Peter Capaldi is already lining up his third record.

Peter worked with Blow Monkeys frontman Dr. Robert for album two and now they’re teaming up again, following the end of Peter’s debut run of headline shows.

A source said: “Peter finished his final show at the 100 Club in London last night, and the plan is to get back into a studio and lay down some new tracks.

“He has been blown away by the response to his first ever live shows with his band, and he already has a host of tracks for a new record.

“More than anything he finds making music fun.

“Peter doesn’t need to get to the top of the charts for this all to be a success for him.

“He would never have even recorded one track if it wasn’t for his friend Dr. Robert urging him to remember his student days as a punk and write some new songs.

“He trusts Dr. Robert and can’t wait to get to work with him again.”

Peter’s first foray into music was when he was at art college and he was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called the Dreamboys.

His biggest music moment so far came last year when Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos pulled Peter up on stage at Glastonbury to perform Take Me Out with them.

Feb. 27 (Asia Today) — Coupang Inc. reported record annual sales of 49.1 trillion won ($36.8 billion) in 2025 but said fourth-quarter operating profit plunged 97% following a personal data breach in December.

In a filing submitted Thursday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the e-commerce company said annual revenue rose 14% from 41.3 trillion won ($30.9 billion) a year earlier. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased 18%.

Annual operating profit reached 679 billion won ($509 million), up 8% from 602.3 billion won ($451 million) the previous year, marking the third consecutive year of profitability. Net income for the year totaled 303 billion won ($227 million), more than triple the prior year. Earnings per share were 11 cents.

Despite the annual gains, profitability weakened sharply in the fourth quarter.

Revenue for the October-December period rose 11% on-year to 12.81 trillion won ($9.61 billion), but fell 5% from the previous quarter. Operating profit dropped to 11.5 billion won ($8.6 million) from 435.3 billion won ($326 million) a year earlier, while the operating margin narrowed to 0.09%. The company posted a quarterly net loss of 37.7 billion won ($28.3 million).

Coupang said the December data breach negatively affected revenue growth, active customer numbers, its Wow membership program and profitability, though it added that the impact has stabilized and recovery began in the first quarter.

Chairman Kim Beom-seok apologized during the earnings call, saying, “I once again apologize for the concern and inconvenience caused to our customers due to the personal information incident.”

“Our customers are the sole reason for our existence,” he said. “There is nothing more serious than failing to meet customer expectations at Coupang.”

By segment, product commerce – including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh and its marketplace operations – generated fourth-quarter revenue of 10.74 trillion won ($8.06 billion), up 8% on-year. Growth businesses such as Farfetch, Taiwan, Coupang Eats and Coupang Play posted revenue of 2.07 trillion won ($1.55 billion), up 32%, but recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of 434.9 billion won ($326 million), more than doubling from a year earlier.

Active customers in the product commerce segment totaled 24.6 million in the fourth quarter, up 8% from a year earlier but down 100,000 from the previous quarter. Revenue per active customer rose 3% on a constant currency basis to $301 (436,400 won).

Operating cash flow for the year fell to $1.8 billion from $1.91 billion, while free cash flow declined to $527 million from $1.02 billion, reflecting working capital impacts tied to the data breach and higher capital expenditures.

The company also repurchased 5.9 million shares of Class A common stock last year for $162 million.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260227010008222

Feb. 26 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics President Roh Tae-moon said the company aims for the new Galaxy S26 to surpass its predecessor’s sales, highlighting upgraded artificial intelligence features despite higher retail prices.

Speaking Tuesday at a Galaxy Unpacked press briefing in San Francisco, Roh said the Galaxy S25 series exceeded the prior model’s sales, citing improved real-world user feedback over time.

Market researcher Counterpoint Research said Galaxy S25 sales from February through December rose 5% from the previous generation. Industry estimates place total sales in the high 30 million range.

Roh said the Galaxy S26 features more advanced “agentic AI” capabilities and strengthened practical tools such as Photo Assist. He added that tighter integration between software and hardware, including a privacy-focused display feature, has drawn positive responses from global partners.

Samsung has expanded its AI platform beyond Bixby and Google Gemini to include additional services, and introduced a new AI operating system developed in cooperation with Google to enable smoother AI-driven functions. Roh described the strategy as a “hybrid AI” approach allowing users to choose optimized AI tools for different tasks.

The company is also positioning AI as a differentiator across product tiers, from flagship to entry-level smartphones.

Samsung raised domestic launch prices for its latest Galaxy S series by as much as 300,000 won, about $225, after keeping prices unchanged for three years, citing rising component costs. Counterpoint has projected Samsung’s smartphone shipments could decline about 2% this year amid higher prices.

Roh acknowledged cost pressures but said Samsung’s long-established supply chain gives it flexibility. He said the company will pursue innovation that maintains performance even with fewer components, using AI to offset hardware constraints and limit the impact of cost increases.

“As AI evolves, the importance of devices will only grow,” Roh said, adding that smartphones remain the primary interface through which users generate data and interact with AI services.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260227010008181

US eases oil embargo on Cuba as Caribbean neighbours warn worsening humanitarian crisis could destabilise region.

The United States has said it will allow the resale of some Venezuelan oil to Cuba in a move that could ease the island’s acute fuel shortages, as neighbouring countries raised the alarm over a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation caused by Washington’s oil blockade.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury said it would authorise companies seeking licences to resell Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use in Cuba”.

It said the new “favorable licensing policy” would not cover “persons or entities associated with the Cuban military, intelligence services, or other government institutions”.

Venezuela had been the main supplier of crude and fuel ⁠to Cuba for the past 25 years through a bilateral pact mostly based on the barter of products and services. But since the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month and took control of the country’s oil exports, Caracas’s supply to Cuba has ceased.

Mexico, which had emerged as an alternate supplier, also halted shipments to the Caribbean island after the US threatened tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba. The US blockade has worsened an energy crisis in Cuba that is hitting power generation and fuel for vehicles, houses and aviation.

The shift in US policy came as Caribbean leaders gathering in Saint Kitts and Nevis expressed alarm at the impacts of the blockade on the island nation of some 10.9 million people. Speaking to Caribbean leaders during a meeting of the regional political group CARICOM on Tuesday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness affirmed solidarity with Cuba.

“Humanitarian suffering serves no one,” Holness said at the meeting. “A prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba.”

The Caribbean summit’s host, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew, who studied in Cuba to be a doctor, said friends have told him of food scarcity and rubbish strewn in the streets.

“A destabilised Cuba will destabilise all of us,” Drew said.

But addressing the meeting in Saint Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that the humanitarian crisis had been caused by the Cuban government’s policies, not Washington’s blockade.

Rubio, whose parents migrated to the US from Cuba in 1956, warned that the sanctions would be snapped back if the oil winds up going to the government or military.

“Cuba needs to change. It needs to change dramatically because it is the only chance that it has to improve the quality of life for its people,” Rubio told reporters.

It is “a system that’s in collapse, and they need to make dramatic reforms”, he said.

Rubio went on to blame economic mismanagement and the lack of a vibrant private sector for the dire situation in Cuba, which has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

“This is the worst economic climate Cuba has faced. And it is the authorities there, and that government, who are responsible for that,” Rubio said.

The US pressure on Venezuela and Cuba ⁠has left several fuel cargoes undelivered since December, according to the Reuters news agency, contributing to the island’s inability to keep the lights on and cars circulating. A Cuba-related vessel that loaded Venezuelan gasoline in early February at a port operated by state-run company PDVSA remained this week anchored in Venezuelan waters waiting for authorisation to set sail.

Mexico and Canada have meanwhile announced they would be sending aid to Cuba, and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak also said his government was discussing the possibility of providing fuel to the island.

Separately on Wednesday, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior announced killing four people and wounding six others on board a Florida-registered speedboat that it said entered Cuban waters.

Rubio told reporters it was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved.

“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that,” he said. “ It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something frankly that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”

Most businesses believe that sales and customer service reside in separate departments.

Every small interaction sends a message. The way you answer a question, explain a detail, or handle uncertainty all influence how comfortable someone feels pulling out their card. Spending money is personal. People need to feel looked after before they commit.

They want straight answers. They want things explained properly. And they want to sense that the person helping them actually knows what they’re doing.

To boost sales, follow these five customer service strategies below:

1. Avoid Scripts

A lot of training initiatives teach people what to say, not how to think – and customers feel that immediately.

The moment someone sounds like they’re reciting lines, trust slips. Real confidence comes from understanding, not memorisation. When your team knows the product inside out, they stop performing and start having proper conversations.

They can adapt, explain things in their own words, and, most importantly, respond without that awkward pause where they search for the “right” answer.

• Empower Staff To Solve Problems

Empowering your team means your staff can actually help, without having to “check with someone” every five minutes – that just irritates your customers and your staff lose confidence.

Trust your team to make the right call and let them approve replacements and offer sensible credits so they can fix the small stuff immediately.

Demonstrate the kind of leadership that makes your team better.

When someone buys from you, browses certain products, or asks specific questions, they’re giving you clues about what they actually want.

Good CRM solutions simply help you pay attention.

They keep track of preferences, past orders, and birthdays – the small details that are easy to forget but powerful when remembered. The plan isn’t to inundate them with generic promotions or info they never wanted.

It’s to be there at the right place at the right time. For example, send out a reminder when they’re likely running low or make a suggestion that genuinely complements what they already bought.

Following up shouldn’t feel weird. It’s just care in action.

Most customers don’t need a big song and dance. They just want to know you’re still there after the payment goes through. A simple message, a few days later, is powerfully reassuring.

Not to push, and not to upsell, but rather just to make sure they’re in the loop.

• Reward Loyalty and Referrals

Rewarding loyalty shouldn’t feel like a corporate points program with fine print nobody reads.

It should feel like appreciation.

Let your regulars feel like insiders. Give them a first look at new ranges before anyone else sees them. Move their order up the queue when you can.

When someone chooses your business again and again, that’s trust. They’re choosing you. They’re betting on your quality, your service, and your word.

Final Thoughts

When service feels thoughtful and reliable, hesitation and doubt drop. Questions get answered on time. That sense of being looked after doesn’t just close one sale – it builds loyalty.