SEOUL: The South Korean won edged lower on Thursday and bonds rose as investors turned away from riskier assets due to uncertainty over the future of stimulus measures taken by major central banks.
The won was quoted at 1,134.4 at the end of onshore trade, compared with Wednesday's domestic close of 1,134.0.
The South Korean currency initially opened higher as the dollar weakened against the yen, but investors soon turned sellers as stocks in Korea and other Asian markets headed lower as the day wore on.
But dollar supply from exporters limited the won's fall, dealers said. Samsung Heavy Industries Co earlier on Thursday said its Nigerian unit received a $3 billion order, which helped cushion the blow for the local currency.
"Offshore players seem to shy away from bidding up the dollar-won rate whenever the quote is close to 1,135," a foreign bank dealer said.
"There probably was some repatriation of funds by foreigners, but I think the market has already established a deep dollar-long position and the heavy industry firms' dollar selling probably weighed today."
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended down 1.4 percent at 1,882.73. Foreigners were net sellers of 952.0 billion won ($839.78 million) worth of local shares.
Bonds rebounded on bargain hunting and renewed appetite for safe haven assets. June futures on three-year treasury bonds ended up 0.15 points at 105.99.
Yield on the five-year treasury bonds fell by five basis points, while the yield on three-year treasury bonds fell by six basis points.
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