Official data on showed an unexpected jump in South Korean factory output in May, led by the production of cars and chips, while retail sales also increased last month in a sign of a gradual recovery of the economy.
According to data from the Korean Bureau of Statistics, the industrial output index rose 3.2 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, compared with a 0.6 percent decline in April.
The increase exceeded the highest forecast in a Reuters poll for industrial output to grow 2.8 percent.
Automobile production jumped 8.7 percent, semiconductor production rose 4.4 percent on a monthly basis, while the production of communication equipment fell 16.9 percent.
Factory output fell 7.3 percent year-on-year, which was lighter than the nine percent decline in April and the forecast of an 8.4 percent decline in a survey of economists.
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