The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,426.3 won on the 26th, down 3.1 won from the previous day.
This is seen as the result of expanding investor appetite for risk assets. When market participants increase demand to invest in risk assets, the won, which is not a key currency, tends to rise in value.
Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher overnight. On the 25th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 307.65 points, or 0.63%, to close at 49,482.15. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 56.06 points, or 0.81%, to 6,946.13, and the Nasdaq composite added 288.4 points, or 1.26%, to 23,152.08, respectively, at the close of transactions.
Nvidia, the world's No. 1 company by market capitalization, posted record-high sales. On the 25th (local time), Nvidia disclosed that fiscal year fourth-quarter (Nov. last year–Jan. this year) sales rose 73% from a year earlier to $68.13 billion (about 98 trillion won). This beat the market consensus of $66.2 billion and marked the highest quarterly sales ever.
Min Kyung-won, a Woori Bank researcher, said, "As doubts about the profitability of artificial intelligence (AI) corporations have eased, New York stocks were strong overnight," adding, "The dollar is weakening as risk-on sentiment spreads."