Korean won tumbles after South Korea's president declares martial law; euro gains
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Amanda Cooper
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - The Korean won was one of the biggest movers on Tuesday, plunging against the U.S. dollar after South Korea's president declared martial law in an unannounced late-night address on television.
The euro, meanwhile, which has hogged the headlines of late, recovered versus the greenback as political turmoil in France sent traders scrambling for hedging protection against further price swings.
The dollar, on the other hand, briefly rose after data showed U.S. job openings increased moderately in October while layoffs declined.
But it was the won that caught the market's attention, with political news coming out of left field.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he had no choice but to resort to martial law in order to protect the liberal democracy, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
The South Korean currency fell to as low as 1,443.40 won per dollar, the lowest since October 2022. It was last down 1.9% at 1,430.72.
"This naturally makes sense for the Korean won to plummet while we're all assessing what exactly is the emergency. It usually doesn't happen unless there is major fear or concern that the stability of the country is apparent," said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA in Washington.
"When there is chaos in Asia, it makes a lot of sense for jumping to the yen and a lot of the funds that are usually invested in Korea start actually heading towards Japan and I think already you're seeing a bit of an unusual jump in favor of the yen."
The dollar fell 0.3% versus the yen to 149.12 yen, while the euro also dipped, down 0.2% at 156.77 yen. Traders are growing increasingly confident that Japan may hike interest rates this month.
The won sank to its lowest since May 2023 against the yen, and was last down 2.2% at 1,043 won.
The euro, which had been the weakest G10 currency through November, began this month with a 0.7% fall on Monday and was last up 0.2% at $1.05185, as France's government heads for collapse over a budget impasse. [EUR/GVD]
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a vote of no confidence on Wednesday after fierce opposition from across the political spectrum to his budget, which contains painful tax rises and spending cuts aimed at repairing the country's precarious finances.
Demand for hedges, as reflected by euro options volatility, has hit its highest since March 2023 this week and, with the combination of a string of weak data, political uncertainty in major euro zone economies and the seemingly unstoppable dollar, the single European currency could struggle.
WATCHING THE YUAN
The Chinese yuan , another currency to watch with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in the United States, hit a 13-month low on tariff risks and weakness in China's economy.
The yuan had already sold off in anticipation of more tariffs from Trump and improving U.S. manufacturing data, and a dive in Chinese bond yields to record lows has pulled the currency towards 7.3 per dollar for the first time since last November. [CNY/]
China fixed the yuan's trading band at its weakest in more than a year and traders ran with it to sell the currency at 7.2996 per dollar. The Chinese unit last traded at 7.2850 per dollar, slightly down 0.2%. It traded at 7.24 on Friday. [CNY/]
The U.S. dollar index was little changed to slightly down on the day at 106.34. It trimmed losses after data showed job openings, a measure of labor demand, had risen 372,000 to 7.744 million by the last day of October, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report.
"The Fed's December 18th decision will be a close one, but if the majority of voting members prioritize the employment mandate, markets should expect a cut in policy rates, supporting risk appetite," wrote Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA ) in emailed comments.
U.S. fed funds futures priced in a 70% chance of a 25 basis-point cut this month, and 30% odds of a pause, according to LSEG calculations, little changed from late Monday.
The dollar typically suffers seasonal weakness in December as companies tend to buy foreign currencies. However, traders are keeping a wary eye this year on Trump's incoming government and its support of the greenback.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened punitive tariffs unless BRICS member countries committed to the dollar as a reserve currency.
Currency
bid
prices at
3
December
04:27
p.m. GMT
Descripti RIC Last U.S. Pct YTD Pct High Low
on Close Change Bid Bid
Previous
Session
Dollar 106.31 106.37 -0.05% 4.87% 106.6 106.
index 09
Euro/Doll 1.0511 1.0498 0.11% -4.79% $1.0531 $1.0
ar 481
Dollar/Ye 149.48 149.57 -0.09% 5.95% 150.195 148.
n 675
Euro/Yen 1.0511 157.02 0.06% 0.96% 157.98 156.
19
Dollar/Sw 0.8858 0.8864 -0.06% 5.26% 0.8889 0.88
iss 3
Sterling/ 1.2661 1.2657 0.03% -0.51% $1.2698 $1.2
Dollar 638
Dollar/Ca 1.4065 1.4046 0.16% 6.13% 1.4076 1.40
nadian 1
Aussie/Do 0.6475 0.6476 -0.02% -5.04% $0.6505 $0.6
llar 456
Euro/Swis 0.931 0.9305 0.05% 0.26% 0.9324 0.92
s 92
Euro/Ster 0.83 0.8294 0.07% -4.25% 0.8312 0.82
ling 88
NZ 0.5875 0.5888 -0.2% -7% $0.5905 0.58
Dollar/Do 65
llar
Dollar/No 11.0593 11.0891 -0.27% 9.12% 11.1303 11.0
rway 394
Euro/Norw 11.6255 11.652 -0.23% 3.58% 11.677 11.6
ay 175
Dollar/Sw 11.0145 10.9876 0.24% 9.41% 11.0273 10.9
eden 705
Euro/Swed 11.5778 11.538 0.34% 4.07% 11.5846 11.5
en 357
Source: Investing.com
