South Korean currency's volatility versus the U.S. dollar expanded in the January-March quarter on uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's currency policy and the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
According to data released Thursday by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the won-dollar exchange rate posted a 5.7 won per dollar in volatility rate in the first quarter on average. It was higher than a daily average of 4.9 won per dollar in the previous quarter.
Mixed signals were detected as Trump indicated his cautiousness about the strong dollar, which was considered as his preference to weaker dollar for exports.
The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate in March, hinting at two more hikes for the rest of this year. It boosted the value of the greenback. The won-dollar exchange rate averaged 1,152.6 won per dollar in the March quarter, down 6.0 won from the prior quarter.
The daily average currency transactions in the inter-bank market stood at 22.41 billion U.S. dollars in the quarter, up 2.56 billion dollars from the previous three-month period.
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