South Korean won at six-month high

The South Korean won hit its strongest in more than six months on Monday as foreign investors kept buying Seoul stocks after better-than-expected US job data that bolstered appetite for riskier assets. The won, however, gave up some of its early gains as investors became more cautious over possible dollar-buying intervention by South Korea's foreign exchange authorities to prevent the country's exporters from losing overseas price competitiveness.
Analysts said the local currency was expected to rise further as more investors sought assets amid hopes for economic recovery, although the pace of the currency's rise was expected to slow on possible intervention by the authorities. "Considering firmer stocks and recovery hopes, there are no bearish factors for the won. But I wonder how fast it will rise from this level," said Jeong My-young, a currency analyst at Samsung Futures Inc.
"We also need to keep an eye on the authorities, as their actions would just slow the speed of its rise," she added. The South Korean unit was quoted at 1,237.7/8.0 per dollar as, compared with Friday's domestic close of 1,247.0. It strengthened to as much as 1,230.8, the strongest since October 31, 2008.