SEOUL, May 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading grew last month due to strong demand for 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 expanded 1.87 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 49.07 billion dollars in April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was affected by solid demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading climbed 2.06 billion dollars. The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency also rose 0.99 billion dollars.
Demand for FX swaps declined 1.03 billion dollars to 20.91 billion dollars, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, was down 0.22 billion dollars to 3.07 billion dollars.
The daily average volatility in the South Korean won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate dipped to 0.59 percent in April from 0.76 percent in March.
The won versus dollar exchange rate retreated to 1,483.3 won per dollar at the end of April from 1,530.1 won tallied a month earlier.
Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 31 basis points in April, slightly up from 30 basis points a month ago. ■
