S. Korean currency dips against dollar on recession woes

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean currency declined against the U.S. dollar for the second straight session in early trading Friday as foreign investors unloaded local stocks, tracking overnight plunges in U.S. markets, dealers said.
The local currency was trading at 1,508.95 won to the greenback as of 9:21 a.m.,
down 11.95 won or 0.8 percent from the previous session's close. The won tumbled
to an almost 11-year low on Thursday, with its value losing more than 37 percent
to the greenback so far this year.
Dealers said the won's weakness came as investors' appetite for risky assets
waned on growing concerns over a global recession, sending local stock prices
lower.
U.S. stock markets tumbled Thursday on global recession woes and the health of
the U.S. auto industry. The Dow Jones industrial average nosedived 5.6 percent
and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index plunged 5.07 percent.
South Korea's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading
3.47 percent lower at 915.8 as of 9:21 a.m. Foreign investors dumped a net 35.3
billion won (US$23.5 million) worth of local stocks on the Seoul bourse.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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