The South Korean won rose 2.5 percent against the dollar on Friday as talk of a fresh US capital injection into Bank of America lifted investors' appetite for risky assets such as Asian currencies and stocks. It was the won's biggest daily percentage gain in nearly three weeks but fell short of recovering a sharper 3.2 percent loss on Thursday.
The won ended local session at 1,357.4/8.1 per dollar, up from Thursday's domestic close of 1,392.0. "The rebound in stock markets came just as perception grew among many traders in the currency market that the hefty sell-off of the won yesterday was excessive," said a local bank dealer. The Seoul stock market's main index jumped 2.15 percent, although foreign investors were net sellers of local shares worth some 307 billion won ($226 million).