Seoul: Daily foreign exchange (FX) trading by banks in South Korea hit an all-time high in the second quarter, driven by foreigners' investment in the local equity market, central bank data showed Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the average daily FX turnover, including derivatives trading, reached an average of US$121.44 billion during the April-June period. This figure represents an increase of $18.79 billion, or 18.3 percent, from the second quarter, based on data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
This surge marks the highest quarterly level since the central bank started compiling such data under the current statistical standards in 2008, surpassing the previous record of $102.65 billion set in the first three months of this year.
The BOK attributed the sharp increase in FX trading to a rise in offshore investors' stock transactions. Foreigners traded an average of 1,048 trillion won (US$730.6 billion) worth of equities per month in April and May, up from 855 trillion won in the first quarter and 475 trillion won in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Average daily spot FX turnover climbed 27.7 percent on-quarter to $54.11 billion in the second quarter, while derivatives trading rose 11.7 percent to $67.32 billion.