South Korean Won Tumbles To 3-week Low Against Dollar

The South Korean won tumbled to a 3-week low against the US dollar during Wednesday's early Asian trading as a slump in local stocks decreased demand for the South Korean currency. The won also showed weakness against the Japanese unit.

After a weak start and a subsequent recovery, the South Korean market has drifted down into the red on fairly heavy selling in technology and shipbuilding stocks. The overnight negative close on Wall Street on the back of disappointing U.S. housing data appears to have hurt sentiment to a notable extent.

The benchmark KOSPI index, which rebounded to 1,665 after an early fall, is currently trading at 1,649, down 10.1 points, or 0.62%, from its previous close. The KOSPI had ended up 10.1 points, or 0.6%, at 1,659 on Tuesday.

In early Asian trading on Wednesday, the South Korean won plummeted to a 3-week low of 1184.10 against the US dollar. The next downside target for the Korean currency is seen at the 1189 level. The dollar-won pair closed yesterday's deals at 1161.10.

From U.S., the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly petroleum inventory report for the week ended October 16th at 10:30 am ET. At 2:00 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release its Beige Book.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is due to open the Boston Fed's annual Cape Cod economic conference in Chatham, Massachusetts on re-evaluating regulatory and monetary policy at 4:30 pm ET.

In early Asian trading on Wednesday, the South Korean dropped against its Japanese counterpart. The won touched 13.0210 against the yen by 11:20 pm ET, compared to yesterday's closing value of 13.0470. On the downside, the immediate likely support for the South Korean currency is seen around the 13.195 level.