SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency trading hit a record high last year as demand for derivatives increased on the rising foreign investment in local securities, central bank data showed Friday.
The daily average transaction of foreign currencies was 55.77 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the biggest since the bank began compiling the data in 2008.
The daily foreign currency trading on spot averaged 19.83 billion dollars last year, down 7.1 percent from the prior year. The reduction was attributed to the reduced global trade, caused by the global trade dispute.
The daily average transaction of foreign exchange derivatives advanced 5.2 percent to 35.94 billion dollars in 2019 as the increased foreign investment in domestic securities raised demand for currency risk hedge.
The foreign currency trading in local banks reduced 3 percent to 26.08 billion dollars, but the figure in the domestic branches of foreign banks increased 3.8 percent to 29.69 billion dollars.
