S. Korean won rises on expectation over stabilization measures

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's currency jumped against the U.S. dollar on Monday as investors expected that the government will take more measures aimed at stabilizing the local financial markets, analysts said.

The local currency was trading at 1,409.45 won to the greenback as of 9:46 a.m.,
up 14.55 won from Friday's close, after rising as high as 1,380 won.
The won gained ground after recent sharp pullbacks, with growing expectations
that the government will take additional measures to stabilize the wobbling
financial sector adding to the upward move, analysts said.
The rise came despite the earlier decision by the nation's central bank to lower
its key interest rates by 0.75 percentage point to 4.25 percent in the latest
move to jump-start the slowing economy. A rate cut usually puts downward pressure
on the won's value as it results in increased liquidity.
The larger-than-expected rate cut helped the local benchmark KOSPI reverse course
from a weak start, trading 1.77 percent higher as of 9:46 a.m.
Fears are still lingering that South Korea's economy might slip into a slowdown
as its gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent on-quarter in the
July-September period, the slowest pace in four years.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)