Seoul: Won up as US dollar sags on Trump, stocks little changed

[SEOUL] The South Korean won climbed to a more than one-week high early on Wednesday as the greenback weakened broadly following the disclosure of emails that has put US President Donald Trump's administration into controversy.

The emails, released by the president's son, Donald Trump Jr, showed that he welcomed support from Russia for his father's 2016 election campaign.

As of 0222 GMT, the won was quoted at 1,145.2 to the US dollar, the highest intraday level since July 3. It was up 0.5 per cent compared to Tuesday's close of 1,151.1.

"The US dollar made a big drop overnight and is still having an influence on the won's movement for today," said Park Sung-Woo, a foreign exchange analyst at NH Futures.

Mr Park added that the most important market cues would come from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress later in the day while major economic data from the United States due to be released on Friday is also in focus.

South Korean shares trade was tepid with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at 2,394.40 points, little changed from the previous close.

Offshore investors are on track to be net sellers of Kospi shares near mid-session.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics edged up for its third consecutive session to a record intraday high trading price of 2,470,000 won (S$2,977).

Automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motor gained more than 2 per cent.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 476 to 315.

September futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.04 point to 109.18.

REUTERS