South Korea's business sentiment inched up this month...thanks to signs of a recovery in the country's shipbuilding industry.<br />However, overall sentiment is still low...and the outlook for December remains gloomy.<br />Ko Roon-hee reports.<br /> <br />After hitting its lowest point in almost two years in October, business sentiment among Korean firms inched up this month.<br /><br />The Bank of Korea's business survey index for November... came to 74... up 1 point from the previous month.<br />A reading below 100 means there are more pessimists about the local economy than optimists. <br /><br />The central bank attributed the increase to the nation's shipbuilding industry reporting slightly better figures after years in a slump.<br />A report from Hyundai Research Institute released earlier this month showed that shipbuilding production was not falling as fast in the third quarter as it was a year earlier.<br />The institute said local shipyards have found more opportunities for exports thanks to growth in the market for LNG carriers.<br /><br />But even though sentiment has ticked up, the situation is still grim for Korea overall... now in a fifth straight month with the sentiment index stuck below 80.<br />The BOK says oil refineries reported especially low sentiment following a plunge this month in oil prices.<br />In October, Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, hit its highest price in almost four years,... trading at more than 80 dollars a barrel. <br />But in the last week of November, it's dipped below 60 dollars.<br /><br />Separate data Tuesday from the Korea Economic Research Institute also paint a grim picture.<br />Sentiment for December... among the nation's top 600 companies by sales... stood at 88-point-7,... the lowest since February last year.<br />It's the second month in a row the forecast has fallen,... and the outlook is especially negative among manufacturers.<br /><br />Economic experts say the government's regulatory reforms and new investment incentives could help turn things around.<br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
