Exchange rate, 1,331 won, another annual low... Lowest in 2 years

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Do-heun = The won/dollar exchange rate hit a new intraday low and fell to the lowest level in two years.

It rose in the early hours of the session due to rising prices in the United States and concerns about additional tightening by the Federal Reserve, but turned downward in the afternoon due to the weakening dollar and the rebound in the domestic stock market.

On the 16th, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the standard price of the Korean won to U.S. dollar exchange rate at 3:30 p.m. was down 13.2 won to 1,331.4 won.

The exchange rate started at 1,340.0 won and then rose to 1,348.0 won at 10:21 am.

However, at 3:29 p.m., it fell to the annual low of 1,331.0 won, breaking the annual low of 1,332.0 won recorded on the 12th in 4 trading days.

Both the intraday low price and the standard price at 3:30 PM are the lowest since October 2, 2024 (1,317.1 won, 1,319.3 won).

Until this morning, the exchange rate had shown an upward trend due to price pressure in the United States, expectations of additional tightening by the Federal Reserve, and foreigners selling domestic stocks.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 15th (local time) that the producer price index (PPI) rose 1.3% in September compared to the previous month. This is the highest rate of increase since March 2022, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded expectations and the PPI also rose significantly, raising concerns that inflationary pressure in the United States is growing again.

Oil prices also showed an upward trend.

The day before, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI for November delivery ended trading at $97.97 per barrel, up $2.88 (3.03%) from the previous day, showing an upward trend for six consecutive trading days.

However, in the afternoon, following remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Worth, the dollar index, which represents the value of the dollar against the currencies of six major countries, fell, and the exchange rate also turned downward.

When asked about the direction of the interest rate decision at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) regular meeting scheduled for the 27th and 28th at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand, Chairman Wash avoided commenting on whether to raise interest rates further, saying, "I don't think it is appropriate to say now what we will do at the remaining meetings this year."

Accordingly, the dollar index, which had been fluctuating in the early 102 range, fell to 101.813 at around 12:55 p.m. As of 3:30 p.m., the dollar index was 101.860, down 0.132 from the previous day.

KOSPI, which continued its slumping market with a sharp drop of 7% the previous day, also rose to the 3% range at one point during the day.

KOSPI rebounded today, closing at 5,668.05, up 2.05% from the previous day.

Foreigners turned to net purchases of 341.3 billion won on this day, breaking the ‘selling’ trend that had continued for the past 8 trading days.

The yen/dollar exchange rate fell 0.06% to 157.862 yen.

The won/yen arbitrage rate was 844.09 won per 100 yen, down 7.51 won from the previous trading day.