The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,487 won on the 18th. It fell 6.6 won from the previous day.
It is seen as the result of improved risk appetite after the three major U.S. stock indexes in New York rose overnight. When investor sentiment to buy risk assets revives, the value of the won, which is not a reserve currency, tends to rise.
On the 17th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session up 46.85 points (0.1%) at 46,993.26. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 16.71 points (0.25%) to 6,716.09, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 105.35 points (0.47%) to 22,479.53 at the close.
Meanwhile, at 19 in our time, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will announce its decision on the benchmark interest rate. Kim Ho-jung, a researcher at Yuanta Securities Korea, said, "The key to this Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is less the rate decision itself than how Chair Jerome Powell frames the oil price shock at the press conference," adding, "Whether the rise in oil prices is assessed as a temporary factor will determine the market's direction going forward."