An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
The South Korean currency sharply weakened against the US dollar Thursday, briefly breaching the 1,450 won mark for the first time since the 2009 global financial crisis.
As of 11 a.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,449.5 per dollar, partially recovering from earlier losses. The currency had opened at 1,453 won, down 17.5 won from the previous session.
It marked the lowest level since the 1,488 won recorded March 16, 2009.
The local currency had weakened notably against the greenback after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a short-lived martial law on Dec. 3. Since then, the won had remained around the 1,430 level.
Thursday's sharp drop also follows a US rate cut.
The Federal Open Market Committee concluded its two-day meeting Wednesday, lowering its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.25 to 4.50 percent. The latest rate cut followed a quarter percentage-point cut last month and a 50-basis-point reduction in September.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested two additional rate cuts next year, two fewer than what the Fed had projected three months ago.
"The FOMC's December decision is being interpreted as quite hawkish," said Lee Min-hyuk, an analyst at KB Kookmin Bank.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok earlier forecast heightened volatility in the country's financial and foreign exchange markets in the short term, saying major global currencies are showing significant weakness.
He also urged market participants to remain calm, pledging that the government and the central bank would swiftly and boldly implement further market-stabilizing measures if excessive volatility was observed. (Yonhap)
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