S. Korean currency tumbles against dollar on stock sales

SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean currency plunged against the U.S.dollar in early trading Thursday on escalating concerns over a global recession, flirting with the 1,500-won level, dealers said.

The local currency was trading at 1,486.05 won to the greenback as of 9:27 a.m.,
down 39.55 won or 2.6 percent from the previous session's close, after starting
at 1,500 won.
Dealers said investors shunned away from risky assets due to growing concerns
over a global recession, sparking strong demand for the dollar. The won has
declined more than 35 percent to the dollar so far this year.
U.S. stock markets nosedived Wednesday as growing concerns over economic
deflation unnerved investors. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 5.07
percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index plunged 6.53 percent. It
was the first time that the Dow closed below the 8,000-point mark since March
2003.
Mirroring overnight plunges on Wall Street, South Korea's benchmark Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading 4.8 percent lower at 968.02 as of
9:27 a.m., dipping below the 1,000-point mark in one session. Foreign investors
were dumping a net 13.2 billion won (US$8.92 million) worth of local stocks on
the Seoul bourse.
Despite a massive liquidity supply by the government and the central bank, South
Korea's financial markets remained unstable as the impact of a global credit
crisis began to spill over the real economy, analysts said.
"Global economic recession woes sparked capital flight by foreign investors,
deepening jitters in the local financial markets," said Bae Min-keun, an
economist at LG Economic Research Institute.