S. Korean won nudges lower against U.S. dollar on foreign outflows

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean won nudged lower against the U.S. dollar Thursday, as offshore investors remained net sellers of local stocks after a Democratic Party win in the U.S. midterm elections.

The won was quoted at 1,342.1 won per dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 0.6 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.

With Democrats winning majorities in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, traders have expected it to weaken the power of U.S. President Donald Trump during the final two years of his term.

For the local semiconductor industry, one of the key things to watch going forward is whether a Democrat-controlled Congress would slow the pace of building data centers for artificial intelligence.

Foreign investors sold a net 3.39 trillion won (US$2.53 billion) worth of local shares during the latest regular stock trading session, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index plunging 5.28 percent to close at 5,383.80.