
The South Korean won reached an over two-year high against the U.S. dollar, driven by dollar sales from local exporters and foreign institutional investors.
AI-generated summary
The exchange rate has hovered around the 1,330 level in recent trading sessions.
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean won advanced to an over two-year high against the U.S. dollar Monday, driven by dollar sales by local exporters and foreign institutional investors.
The won was quoted at 1,330.3 won per dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 1.1 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.
At one point in afternoon trading, the won was traded at 1,327.6 per dollar, marking the strongest level since Oct. 2, 2024.
With the dollar-won exchange rate hovering around the 1,330 level in recent sessions, Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il told reporters last Friday that the exchange rate was "falling into line" with South Korea's economic fundamentals.
Foreign investors sold a net 37.8 billion won (US$28.3 million) worth of local shares during the latest regular trading session, while the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 1.76 percent to close at 5,768.01.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced that it has signed a long-term supply contract for memory semiconductor package substrates worth approximately 360.5 billion won with a large global company. The cumulative amount of long-term supply contracts over the past five months has exceeded 4 trillion won.

Kim So-young, co-CEO of Munhakdongne, a publishing company that is seeking to sell its majority stake, will resign at the end of this month, leaving the remainder of her term in office. While the specific reason has not been confirmed, speculation is being raised regarding its connection with the push to sell majority shareholders' shares.

Amid hiring shortages and inflation, an increasing number of Japanese companies are strengthening their own welfare benefits, such as free in-house cafeterias and paying beauty allowances, to secure top talent and reduce costs.

Creditors of JoongAng Ilbo Co. are expected to select a preferred bidder this month after receiving takeover bids from Orion and five others for the debt-laden South Korean newspaper publisher.
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On the 19th, the won/dollar exchange rate fell to 1,327.6 won during the day, breaking the annual low for two consecutive trading days. The won/yuan exchange rate also fell to its lowest level in a year, and the foreign exchange authorities and the Minister of Finance and Economy evaluated the won's strength as a process of fundamental recovery.