(MENAFN- QNA) The South Korean won traded at a four-week high against the US dollar Wednesday, gaining for the third consecutive day as the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep rates low for a considerable time and South Korea's current account surplus widened last month.
The Korean won was trading at 1,047.30 to the greenback, up 2.4 won from the previous session's close, the highest since September 26 when the comparable figure was 1,044.4 won, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency.
The US Fed is scheduled to end its two-day policy meeting later in the day. The central bank is likely to decide to end its bond-buying program while keeping the benchmark interest rate near zero, as recent US data and concerns over a protracted slowdown in the eurozone economy do not guarantee a firm recovery in the world's largest economy.
The won's advance was also supported by the country's current account surplus widening to US$7.62 billion last month from a revised $7.2 billion in August, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
"In addition to increased appetite for risky assets, local exporters' end-month dollar selling is also putting downward pressure on the won-dollar rate," said Shin Sung-in, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.
The local currency has been losing ground to the dollar since late September on speculation that the Fed may accelerate its moves to raise borrowing costs, but data released over the past week showed that a recovery in the world's biggest economy was weaker than hoped for.
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