Korean currency 2nd most volatile in Asia

The Korean won showed the highest volatility after the Japanese yen among Asian currencies last month, spurred by Tokyo’s outright monetary easing, data showed Tuesday.

In January, the daily currency volatility rate of the won against the U.S dollar averaged 0.34 percent, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.

The rate roughly refers to the average daily variation compared to the previous session’s closing quotation.

The Japanese yen topped at 0.7 percent, and the Korean won ranked second among Asian currencies, followed by the Malaysian ringgit at 0.26 percent and the baht of Thailand at 0.23 percent, the BOK said.

Including non-Asian currencies, the won came in eighth out of a total of 21 countries studied. (Yonhap News)

The strong drive by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to beat years of deflation through an open-ended bond purchase program, worth 13 trillion yen ($137.8 billion) drove up the Korean won’s volatility.

Tokyo’s move has sent the won to rapidly appreciate against both the yen and the greenback since last year, stoking worries it will hurt Seoul’s exports, the country’s growth engine, as Korean products will become more expensive than Japanese ones in the global market.

“The won rose at a faster pace against the dollar on the yen’s impact, which intensified volatility,” said Sohn Eun-jung, an analyst at Woori Futures Co.

Seoul’s resolve to curb the won’s steep gain through market intervention, and rising tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear threat also gave a jolt, analysts said. (Yonhap News)