S.Korea takes steps to stabilise local stock markets

From next Monday, stock brokerage houses will be exempted from a requirement to hold 140% or more worth of stocks for credit provided to their customers, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.

From next Thursday, listed companies will be allowed to buy more of their own stocks from the market per day than they can now, it also said.

These measures would be effective for three months, it added.

(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Toby Chopra)