SEOUL: The South Korean won touched a fresh 20-month intra-day low, while lead bond futures rose on Thursday after the central bank unexpectedly cut its base rate by 25 basis points to revive growth.
The won was down 0.6 per cent at 1,133.6 against the dollar as of 0225 GMT, on track for its fourth consecutive session of declines. It traded as low as 1,136.4, the weakest level since July 10, 2013. The lead March bond futures were up 0.20 points at 109.08.
The Bank of Korea earlier on Thursday eased the policy rate to a record low 1.75 per cent, the latest central bank in the region to cut interest rates. Only four out of 33 analysts polled by Reuters ahead of the decision anticipated such a move.
But the won recovered from the intra-day low as some investors, who had bet on a surprise rate cut, cashed out.
Some analysts note that the Bank of Korea may be reluctant to ease further to keep already high household debt levels from rising further.
