SEOUL: The South Korean won rose to a 5-week high on dollar selling by exporters after Wall Street's recovery from tensions in Ukraine boosted buyer interest in riskier assets.
The won was quoted at 1,017.7 per dollar at 0248 GMT after rising as high as 1,016.9 per dollar, its strongest since touching 1,015.1 on July 11, compared with Thursday's domestic close of 1,021.2.
South Korean financial markets were closed on Friday for a public holiday.
"Exporters were leading the market this morning by selling dollar holdings whenever the (dollar/won) pair rose, but there is also some caution about intervention," said a domestic bank dealer, referring to possible government dollar purchases aimed at slowing the won's gains.
In contrast, South Korean share prices reversed from a brief early rise to edge down 0.4 percent to 2,054.68 points as investors opted to cash in recent gains while seeking more clarity on the near-term direction of the market.
"Expectations are high that the government is keen to boost asset prices as part of its drive to revive the economy, but investors appear unsure about the near-term outlook after the market's recent sharp rises," said Cho Byung-hyun, a market analyst at Tongyang Securities.
The benchmark KOSPI rose over the past four consecutive sessions by a combined 1.6 percent.
South Korea's government has taken a series of steps over the past several weeks to boost domestic demand, fearing the economy could lose more momentum after posting its worst growth in more than a year in the second quarter.
Hyundai Motor fell 2.6 percent to 224,000 won on concerns that a looming strike by its unionised workers could disrupt production.
The shipbuilding sector fell 2 percent on doubts about a quick turnaround in the industry after years of slump in global demand. Industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 1.35 percent to 146,000 won.
Lead September futures on three-year treasury bonds were down 0.03 points.
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