Current Account Sees Korean Won Move to One-Month High

The won rose to a one-month high on speculation South Korea will attract more fund inflows as its current-account surplus widens. Government bonds rose.

The currency advanced for a fourth day as the Bank of Korea said in a statement today that the excess in the broadest measure of trade increased to $4.98 billion in March from a revised $2.71 billion in February. The won also climbed as the dollar weakened against most of its major peers, including the yen, after data on April 26 showed first-quarter gross domestic product in the U.S. increased at a 2.5 percent annualized rate, less than economists had forecast.

“A bigger current-account surplus signals there will be more dollar inflows into the nation,” said Hong Seok Chan, analyst at Daishin Economic Research Institute in Seoul. “Globally, the dollar weakened after the U.S. GDP numbers, prompting the yen to gain and the won to follow suit. Still, concerns that authorities may try to stem the won’s gain and possible North Korea threats may limit further rise.”

Bloomberg

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