SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading turned downward in August on weaker demand for both the U.S. and Chinese currencies, central bank data showed Friday.
The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market stood at 32.80 billion U.S. dollars in August, down 1.01 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It shifted downward after climbing 1.15 billion dollars in the previous month, affected by lower demand for the U.S. and Chinese currencies, of which the daily average trading declined 590 million dollars and 660 million dollars each.
Demand for FX swaps grew 0.2 billion dollars over the month to 16.74 billion dollars in August, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, added 0.24 billion dollars to 2.72 billion dollars.
Foreign capital worth 1.85 billion dollars flowed out of the local stock market last month, while the domestic bond market posted a net foreign fund inflow of 5.47 billion dollars.
The daily average volatility in the won/dollar exchange rate rose to 0.43 percent in August from 0.24 percent in the previous month.
Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 35 basis points in August, down 1 basis point compared to the prior month. ■
