The won closed higher against the dollar as exporters sold foreign currency at the end of the quarter.
The won-dollar exchange rate finished at 1,352.8 won in the Seoul foreign exchange market on the 30th, down 3.9 won from the previous session's close.
Foreign dollar buying was pronounced early in the session. Foreign investors sold a net 2.9 trillion won ($2.1 billion) worth of shares on the main bourse the previous day, and the resulting demand for dollar conversion was estimated to have flowed in through custodian banks in the morning.
Exporter sales of foreign currency at the end of the month and the quarter, however, capped further gains in the exchange rate.
Market participants said the exchange rate moved on month-end supply and demand rather than showing a clear direction.
The dollar remained firm in global markets. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, hovered around the 101 level. The Australian dollar also weakened after the country's consumer price growth in August came in below market expectations, fueling broader dollar-bullish sentiment across Asian currencies.
Caution ahead of the announcement of the U.S. investment plan was also present, but its impact on the spot market was limited. The investment is structured to draw first on returns from foreign currency assets held by the Bank of Korea and the Foreign Exchange Equalization Fund, meaning the announcement of a plan would not immediately trigger large-scale dollar buying in the spot market.
Market participants said what matters is how actual demand for foreign currency funds emerges as the investment is carried out.
Separately, the Bank of Korea exchanged views in advance with the Ministry of Economy and Finance before removing the international ranking of foreign exchange reserves from its monthly press releases. According to materials the central bank submitted on the 30th to the office of Rep. Lee Jong-wook of the People Power Party on the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee, the BOK's International Department consulted with the ministry before dropping the country-by-country ranking table from its end-August press release on foreign exchange reserves.
The BOK said it excluded the ranking because it is not an official statistical indicator and because changes in the ranking could be misread as shifts in external sector fundamentals. Increased volatility was also cited as a factor, with Korea's ranking in foreign exchange reserves falling from ninth to 13th this year before recovering to 10th. The central bank said it has no plans to restore the international ranking to its press releases.
