SEOUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading grew last month due to solid demand for the U.S. currency, central bank data showed Thursday.
The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market expanded 3.16 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 46.27 billion dollars in February, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was affected by strong demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading gained 3.49 billion dollars. The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency slipped 0.32 billion dollars in the cited month.
Demand for FX swaps fell 0.17 billion dollars over the month to 20.95 billion dollars in February, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, was up 0.18 billion dollars to 3 billion dollars.
The daily average volatility in the South Korean won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate picked up to 0.58 percent in February from 0.45 percent in the previous month.
The won versus dollar exchange rate was almost unchanged at 1,439.7 won per dollar at the end of February from 1,439.5 won a month earlier.
Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 22 basis points in February, slightly up from 21 basis points a month ago. ■
