By Kim Kyoungwha
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's won slumped to the weakest level in more than a decade on concern that global investors will step up sales of emerging-market assets after U.S. stocks sank to a five-year low.
The won is down 37 percent this year, Asia's worst performer ahead of Indonesia's rupiah among the 10 most-traded regional currencies. Stock indexes in the region have lost about halt their value this year as the looming threat of a global recession deterred investors. A freeze in credit markets has also made it difficult for Korean banks to secure dollars.
``The foreign-exchange market is simply kneeling to any negative news from the outside world,'' said Lee Myung Hoon, a currency dealer with state-run Industrial Bank of Korea in Seoul. ``The local markets are not in a situation that they can easily shake off the risk from global markets.''
The won declined 2.1 percent to 1,478.50 per dollar as of 9:51 a.m. local time, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. It touched 1,515.05, the weakest since March 1998.
The market is on the lookout for intervention as Korean authorities are better armed with funds from a $30 billion swap deal with the Federal Reserve last month, Lee said.
Funds overseas dumped more Korean shares than they bought for an eighth day, according to Korea Exchange. The Kospi stock index fell 4 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Kyoungwha in Beijing at kkim19@bloomberg.net.
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