SEOUL: The South Korean won edged up against the dollar on Thursday to hit a fresh one-year high and mark a sixth straight day of gains, helped by strong US housing starts and a lack of nasty surprises from China GDP figures.
The local currency stood at 1,104.3 against the greenback at the end of local trade, compared to Wednesday's close of 1,105.5.
The won is at its highest since late October last year but has been trading in a tight range over the past few days, with traders reluctant to push it up aggressively on caution about intervention from authorities.
China's third-quarter gross domestic product grew at the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2009 but matched expectations, which was interpreted as positive news for global economic growth by investors.
"After rising a bit on positive China data, the won seems to have gone back to being listless," said a local bank dealer, adding there were few catalysts for the currency to break out of its range.
In the United States, groundbreaking on homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years in another sign that the world's biggest economy is on track for recovery.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 0.2 percent, although offshore investors sold a net 54.0 billion won ($48.84 million).
Local bonds dipped as offshore investors sold. December futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.12 points to 106.04.
The yields on the benchmark five-year treasury bonds and three-year treasury bonds both rose 3 basis points each.
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