Market sources said South Korea's FX authorities on Thursday executed a rare
dollar-selling intervention, pushing the won to a nine-month high. The action
coincided with Japan's New York-market intervention buying yen and selling
dollars, which pulled the yen off a 40-year low. The won appreciated about 2% to
1,418.0 per USD, its strongest since Oct. 20 last year. It had hit a 17-year low
of 1,561.50 last month and is up more than 8% this month, on track for its
largest monthly gain since March 2009. A South Korean finance ministry FX
official declined to confirm the move. A Seoul FX trader markets said suspect
coordinated Korea-Japan intervention after both governments said they would
maintain close communication; Seoul's deputy finance minister on July 2 and
Japan's top FX official on July 7 both reported close contact on FX issues.
