Won Gains; KOSPI Falls
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The Korean won rose against the dollar for the second consecutive day Friday after roller-coaster trading to close at 1117.8 won. The stock market, however, fell to its lowest level since March 2007 following losses on Wall Street.
The Korean currency opened weaker, falling to a session low of 1,142.80 won at one point, but later gained strength rising as high as 1,109.9 won thanks to what dealers estimated to be a $2 billion intervention.
The local currency closed at 1,117.8 won to the greenback, up 11.2 won from Thursday's close as exporters supplied dollars in the currency market.
The won has been tumbling against the dollar since the turn of September, with market participants haunted by a September crisis scenario. The won has plunged more than 16 percent so far this year, with its value losing over 3 percent this week alone.
The government's strong denial of any financial crisis this month appears to have helped stabilize the currency market.
The stock market, however, plunged without showing signs of any upward momentum. The KOSPI once fell to 1393.33, on an overnight 3 percent dip in U.S. stocks. Institutional investors including pension funds, however, sustained the market from freefall. It closed at 1,404.38, dropping 22.05, or 1.54 percent, from the previous day.
Foreigners continued their sell-off, dumping 242.8 billion won, while institutional and retail investors bought 88.3 billion won and 104 billion won, respectively.
Steel stocks, which were hit by the weakening Korean currency, led the plunge with POSCO falling more than 4 percent ― shipbuilding companies also dropped over 3 percent.
In contrast, Samsung Electronics rose 1.17 percent on news that it may acquire ScanDisk.