SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading rose last month due to higher demand for both U.S. and Chinese currencies, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and foreign currency derivatives in the local inter-bank market stood at 37.13 billion U.S. dollars in January, up 4.37 billion dollars from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was affected by strong demand for the U.S. and Chinese currency, of which daily average trading gained 2.07 billion dollars and 1.02 billion dollars respectively.
Demand for forex swaps expanded 1.87 billion dollars to 17.38 billion dollars in the cited month, but transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, reduced 0.37 billion dollars to 2.26 billion dollars.
Foreign capital worth 2.51 billion dollars flowed into the South Korean stock market in January, while the domestic bond market posted a net foreign fund inflow of 1.89 billion dollars.
The daily average volatility in the won/dollar exchange rate slipped to 0.34 percent in January from 0.58 percent in the previous month.
Premium on credit default swap, which measures credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 29 basis points in January, up from 27 basis points in the prior month. ■