On the 4th, the won-dollar exchange rate rose above 1,440 won during the session before closing in the high 1,430-won range. The won weakened as foreign investors moved to sell Korean stocks in large volumes.
On this day, the weekly transaction closing price of the won against the U.S. dollar in the Seoul foreign exchange market (as of 3:30 p.m.) was tallied at 1,437.9 won, up 9.1 won from the previous day. On a closing basis, it was the highest in about two weeks since on the 23rd of last month (1,439.6 won).
The rate opened at 1,430.5 won, 1.7 won higher than the previous session, then extended gains to surge to as high as 1,441.2 won intraday. On a high basis, it was the highest level since on the 23rd of last month (1,441.5 won).
The market sees rising upward pressure on the exchange rate as foreign investors sold more than 2 trillion won of Korean stocks. Foreign investors posted a net sell of about 2.2159 trillion won in the Korea Exchange on this day. Weighed down by large-scale foreign selling, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 4,121.74, down 100.13 points (2.37%) from the previous day.
Park Sang-hyun of iM Securities said, "Today, as the scale of foreign stock selling exceeded 4 trillion won when combining the cash and futures markets, upward pressure on the exchange rate increased," and added, "It appears to be selling for profit-taking after the sharp rise in domestic stock prices."
The dollar strengthened as expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) diminished. The dollar index, which measures the dollar's value against the currencies of six major countries, stood at 99.809, up 0.07% from the previous day. During the session, it briefly topped 100 for the first time in three months since August.
As of 3:30 p.m., the won-yen cross rate was 936.38 won per 100 yen, up 9.94 won from the 3:31 p.m. reference price of 926.44 won the previous day. The dollar-yen exchange rate fell 0.43% to 153.556 yen.