S. Korea's forex trading falls in November

Alsharq Tribune-Otaify 

South Korea's foreign exchange trading fell for the second straight month due to weaker demand for the U.S. currency, central bank data showed Friday.

The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market declined 4.27 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 38.44 billion dollars in November after slipping 0.83 billion dollars in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The consecutive reduction was affected by lower demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading reduced 2.97 billion dollars.

The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency shrank 0.54 billion dollars last month.

Demand for FX swaps diminished 0.99 billion dollars over the month to 18.41 billion dollars in November, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, shed 0.16 billion dollars to 2.58 billion dollars.

Foreign funds worth 9.13 billion dollars flowed out of the local stock market in November, but the local bond market posted a net foreign capital inflow of 11.81 billion dollars.

The daily average volatility in the won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate retreated to 0.37 percent in November from 0.39 percent in the previous month.

The won versus dollar exchange rate soared to 1,470.6 won per dollar at the end of November from 1,424.4 won a month earlier.

Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 23 basis points in November, down from 24 basis points a month ago.