The Business Times

Seoul: Won trims early losses on suspected intervention, stocks edge up

Published Fri, Feb 19, 2016 · 06:29 AM

[SEOUL] The South Korean won suffered a sharp decline on Friday, although the currency trimmed its early losses in afternoon trade following an official warning and suspected intervention by foreign exchange authorities.

The won ended local trade down 0.6 per cent at 1,234.4, after falling as much as one per cent against the dollar, touching a low of 1,239.6 won on the dollar.

Nearing mid-session on Friday, South Korea's central bank and the finance ministry issued a joint warning against excessive movements in foreign exchange trading to curb the currency's weakness.

For the week, the won lost 1.9 per cent, its sharpest weekly percentage loss since Jan 4-8 period.

South Korean shares edged up, helped by exporters, adding to a significant bound earlier in the week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 0.4 per cent at 1,916.24 points.

On a weekly basis, stocks rose 4.4 per cent, marking their biggest weekly percentage gain since Aug 10, 2012.

Foreigners were net buyers, purchasing a net 172.3 billion won (S$196.52 million) worth of KOSPI shares, preliminary data showed.

REUTERS

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