A woman with an umbrella walks past sale signage at the Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul on January 26, 2021. (Photo: AFP)

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sentiment among South Korean businesses over economic situation rebounded in January amid the moderating COVID-19 resurgence here, central bank data showed Thursday.

The business sentiment index (BSI) stood at 77 in January, up 2 points from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was based on a survey of 1,634 manufacturers and 1,163 non-manufacturers conducted from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19.

The index declined in December amid the COVID-19 resurgence, but it turned around this month amid the relatively low number of infections.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 497 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 76,926. The daily caseload has been on the decline after peaking at 1,240 on Dec. 25.

The BSI among manufacturers rose 3 points over the month to 85 in January, while the index for non-manufacturers gained 2 points to 70.