S. Korea's forex trading grows in January

Alsharq Tribune-M.Essam 

South Korea's foreign exchange trading grew last month due to higher demand for both the U.S. and Chinese currencies, central bank data showed Thursday.

The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market expanded 6.21 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 43.11 billion dollars in January, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was affected by strong demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading gained 3.12 billion dollars. The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency climbed 0.61 billion dollars in the cited month.

Demand for FX swaps rose 2.06 billion dollars over the month to 21.12 billion dollars in January, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, was up 0.26 billion dollars to 2.82 billion dollars.

The daily average volatility in the South Korean won versus U.S. dollar exchange rate picked up to 0.45 percent in January from 0.36 percent in the previous month.

The won versus dollar exchange rate rose to 1,439.5 won per dollar at the end of January from 1,439.0 won a month earlier.

Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 21 basis points in January, down from 22 basis points a month ago.