SEOUL: The South Korean won fell early on Wednesday after comments from the country's finance minister and central bank governor increased expectations of a rate cut, although slightly better-than-expected China growth data erased some losses.
The local currency was quoted at 1,033.1 as of 0302 GMT, 0.55 percent down from Tuesday's domestic close of 1,027.4. It touched 1,036.1, the won's weakest level since April 28.
As expectations of monetary expansion grow, "foreign investors are buying dollars," a dealer at a bank in Seoul said.
South Korea's new finance minister and its central bank governor both highlighted weakness in Asia's fourth-largest economy on Wednesday, adding to market expectations that an interest rate cut could be in the offing.
The won found support soon after the comments, however, after China reported economic growth just ahead of market expectations. The world's second biggest economy expanded by an annual 7.5 percent in the second quarter.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was nearly flat early Wednesday, and was quoted at 2,010.89 points as of 0302 GMT, down 0.1 percent from Tuesday's close at 2,012.72.
Foreign investors purchased a net 61 billion Korean won ($59.1 million) worth of KOSPI shares near mid-session.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 520 to 265.
Steelmaker POSCO rose 2.7 percent as it considers selling as much as 49 percent of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Gwangyang, South Korea, according to a company official.
Naver Corp, South Korea's major search engine and SNS service provider, fell 3.4 percent despite announcing its mobile messaging app subsidiary LINE Corp applied for an initial public offering in Tokyo.
Lead September futures on three-year treasury bonds ticked up 0.06 percent.
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