Seoul: Daily foreign exchange (FX) trading by banks in South Korea hit an all-time high in the third quarter, driven by increased spot transactions, central bank data showed Monday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the average daily FX turnover, including derivatives trading, reached an average of US$82.84 billion during the July-September period, marking an increase of 0.8 percent from the second quarter. This level represents the highest quarterly turnover since the Bank of Korea (BOK) began compiling such data under the current statistical standards in 2008, and it is the third consecutive record high.
A BOK official noted, "While spot FX trading continued to grow following the extension of foreign exchange market trading hours, trading in FX derivatives declined amid reduced exchange rate volatility."
Breaking down the figures, the average daily spot FX turnover saw a 6.4 percent increase on-quarter, reaching $34.86 billion in the third quarter. Conversely, derivatives trading experienced a decline of 2.9 percent, amounting to $47.98 billion.
The data also revealed a decrease in the volatility of the Korean won-U.S. dollar exchange rate, which fell from 0.61 percent in the second quarter to 0.35 percent in the third quarter.