Foreign exchange turnover by banks in South Korea rose 4 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier due to increased stock transactions and bond purchases by foreign investors, the central bank said Wednesday.

The daily foreign exchange turnover averaged $45.9 billion in the January-March period, compared with $44.2 billion three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

“The modest increase was helped by more foreign investors buying and selling local stocks and bonds in the three-month period,” said a BOK official.

Daily average stock transactions by overseas investors rose 2.9 percent compared to the previous quarter to $18.48 billion won, while the net increase in money used to purchase bonds rose by around 5.1 percent to $19.18 billion.

The daily trading volume of spots came to $18.4 billion in the third quarter, up from $17.9 billion in the last three months of 2011.

The foreign exchange turnover of forwards per day rose 1.8 percent on-quarter to $7.12 billion while that of foreign exchange swaps jumped 5.1 percent to $19.1 billion, the central bank said. 

(Yonhap News)