South Korea won inches up ahead of US key jobs data; shares fall

SEOUL: The South Korean won inched up to the dollar on Thursday as some traders trimmed dollar-long positions ahead of US non-farm payrolls data due late in the week.

The won closed up 0.6 percent at 1,166.2 to the dollar after touching a three-year low of 1,175.1 in the previous session.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 0.8 percent at 2,013.29 points, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Hyundai Motor Co Ltd falling 3.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

Foreign and local institutional selling in KOSPI shares weighed on the main bourse, offloading a net 87 billion won ($74.60 million) and 145.3 billion worth of stocks each, preliminary data showed.