The South Korean won held steady against the dollar on Wednesday in slow trade despite foreign net sales of local stocks, as traders took to the sidelines in a year-end holiday mood. The won ended local trade at 938.8/9.1 per dollar, compared with the previous closing bid of 939.2, after trading in a narrow 2.6-won range during the day.
"Trading continues to be extremely slow ahead of the year-end holiday period, with only a handful of banks involved in trading," said a domestic bank dealer. Seoul stock market's benchmark KOSPI finished down 0.7 percent, as foreign investors turned net sellers of shares worth 20.5 billion won.