Won climbs against dollar on U.S. rate cut

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's currency jumped against the U.S. dollar
Wednesday as investors' appetite for riskier assets revived on the back of the
U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to cut the rate to a record low, dealers said.

The local currency was trading at 1,323.20 won to the greenback as of 9:15 a.m.,
up 26.4 won from the previous session's close, after jumping as high as 1,310 won
at one point.
The Korean currency gained ground for the third straight session with its value
falling about 31 percent to the greenback so far this year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed the key interest rate Tuesday to a range of zero
to 0.25 percent from 1 percent, marking the lowest level since the central bank
began to target it. South Kora's policy rate stands at an all-time low of 3
percent.
U.S. stocks surged Tuesday on expectations that the rate reduction will help
revive the slumping U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 4.21
percent, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index jumped 5.41 percent.
South Korea's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 2.45
percent to 1,190.06 as of 9:15 a.m. Foreign investors snapped up a net 27.8
billion won (US$21 million) worth of local stocks on the Seoul bourse.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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