Seoul: Won edges down on North Korea worries; stocks firmer

[SEOUL] The South Korean won fell to a one-week low as anxiety about North Korea hurt sentiment after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of Washington's commitment to reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions.

The won was quoted at 1,142.4 to the US dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, down 0.4 per cent from Monday's close of 1,137.7 and the lowest closing since April 11.

South Korean shares ended slightly higher on investors'stock purchases as they focused more on first-quarter earnings of local companies and the May presidential election than on North Korea.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) closed up 0.1 per cent at 2,148.46 points.

Domestic institutions bought a net 38.3 billion won (S$46.1 million) of Kospi shares. Offshore investors also were net buyers by the end of the trade, but the amount purchased was small.

REUTERS