SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading fell last month due to weaker demand for the U.S. currency and foreign currency derivatives, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market stood at 41.21 billion U.S. dollars in July, down 3.26 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The downturn was affected by lower demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading declined by 1.30 billion dollars in the cited month.
The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency increased by 0.82 billion dollars.
Demand for FX swaps dipped 1.55 billion dollars over the month to 17.64 billion dollars in July, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, shrank 0.55 billion dollars to 2.50 billion dollars.
Foreign capital worth 2.44 billion dollars flowed into the local stock market in July, while the domestic bond market posted a net foreign fund inflow of 2.40 billion dollars.
The daily average volatility in the won/dollar exchange rate decreased to 0.37 percent in July from 0.64 percent in the previous month.
The won-to-dollar exchange rate gained to 1,387.0 won per dollar at the end of July from 1,350.0 won a month ago.
Premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 24 basis points in July, down from 27 basis points a month earlier. ■
