South Korean Feb export growth beats forecast

SEOUL — South Korean export growth exceeded market forecasts in February, trade ministry data showed on Friday, expanding for a fifth successive month as a surge in semiconductor demand made up for a decline in vehicle sales. Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 4.8 percent from the same month a year earlier to $52.41 billion, beating a gain of 1.9 percent tipped in a Reuters poll of economists. While that represented a softening from January’s on-year surge of 18 percent, February export growth adjusted for working-day differences was 12.5 percent, faster than January’s 5.7 percent, the data showed. There were fewer working days in February this year than last because the Lunar New Year holiday period fell in February rather…