SEOUL: The South Korean won edged higher early on Tuesday, recouping some of its losses from a day earlier as Seoul shares gained and offshore investors took profits in the dollar.
The local currency was quoted at 1,071.4 against the dollar as of 0255 GMT, compared with Monday's domestic closing level of 1,072.5.
The won touched an intraday low of 1,073.0 against the dollar in early morning trade, a near one-month low, but regained its footing as the session wore on as local stocks' firm gains led to some unwinding of dollar-long bets.
Foreign investors were small net buyers of local stocks early on Tuesday, providing additional support for the won.
But dealers said investors grew cautious about pushing the won higher as the yen-won cross continued to slide. Investors are concerned that the local authorities could intervene to slow the won's rise against the yen.
Some of the biggest Korean exporters compete directly with Japanese firms, and a sharp appreciation of the won against the yen could hurt their price competitiveness.
"It's hard to say where the dollar-won rate is headed; it seems like some investors have started building long positions on the dollar again, but the won may move higher if offshore investors don't start bidding the dollar up and support such repositioning," one dealer at a foreign bank said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 1.1 percent at 1,998.83.
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