A display board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, shows the won-dollar exchange rate on Monday, the first day South Korea's foreign exchange market shifted to a 24-hour weekday trading system. The market will now operate on all weekdays, including public holidays, except Jan. 1 and weekends, with trading available from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. — hours previously off-limits. (Multiple exposure)
A display board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, shows the won-dollar exchange rate on Monday, the first day South Korea's foreign exchange market shifted to a 24-hour weekday trading system. The market will now operate on all weekdays, including public holidays, except Jan. 1 and weekends, with trading available from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. — hours previously off-limits. (Multiple exposure)

The won-dollar exchange rate edged up into the 1,530-won range on Monday, the first day South Korea's foreign exchange market extended its trading hours to 24 hours a day.

The daytime closing rate on the Seoul foreign exchange market stood at 1,530.3 won per dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 4.7 won from the previous session. It was also 0.3 won higher than the overnight session's closing rate, recorded at 2 a.m.

Trading opened at 6 a.m. at 1,527.6 won, up 2 won from the prior close, before climbing to an intraday high of 1,537.5 won. The rebound was driven by bargain-hunting demand after the rate fell more than 30 won on Friday to the 1,520-won range.

Foreign investors continued their net selling of domestic shares. They offloaded about 1.3 trillion won ($844 million) worth of shares on the main Kospi market, extending their net selling streak to 12 consecutive trading sessions since June 19.

The dollar, which had weakened last week after US employment data came in below expectations, regained strength Monday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, had slipped to the upper 100s on Sunday before recovering to the 101 range Monday. It was last up 0.17 percent at 101.025.

The yen also resumed its slide. The yen-dollar rate, which had plunged to the 160-yen range on Friday, extended its losses through the afternoon to return to the 162-yen range. It was last up 0.48 percent at 162.133 yen per dollar. The won-yen cross rate stood at 943.52 won per 100 yen, down 4.12 won from the previous session's 3:30 p.m. benchmark.

South Korea's foreign exchange market moved to round-the-clock operations Monday. The trading window, previously running from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. the following day, has been expanded to run from 6 a.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Saturday. The new schedule allows won-dollar trading every day of the year except weekends and Jan. 1.


kimstar@heraldcorp.com