2009.01.1223:05:00UTC+00South Korean won recovers from new-week low against dollar and yen

During Asian deals on Tuesday, the South Korean won recovered from new multi-week lows against the US dollar and the Japanese yen.

The South Korean won edged down to 1383.60 against the US dollar during early Asian deals on Tuesday. This set the lowest point for the won since December 11, 2008. Thereafter, the South Korean currency gained ground and is currently trading at 1354.30 against the dollar, compared to 1349.60 hit late New York Monday. On the upside, 1300.60 is seen as the next target level for the Korean currency.

The South Korean won gained ground after hitting a new multi-week low of 15.3545 against the Japanese yen during Tuesday's early Asian deals. The won that closed Monday's New York deals at 15.1395 against the yen is worth 15.1475 at 10:55 am ET. If the South Korean currency gains further, 14.63 is seen as the next target level.

Japan's unadjusted current account surplus for November stood at 581.2 billion yen, the Ministry of Finance said today - down 65.9 percent on year. The surplus was 960.5 billion yen in October and 1.7058 trillion yen in November of 2007.

Also, Japanese bank lending to banks excluding trusts was up 4.1 percent on year, the Bank of Japan said, up from the 3.6 percent annual gain in November. Including trusts, lending was up 3.7 percent on year from the 3.2 percent annual gain in the previous month. Seasonally adjusted, lending was up 4.6 percent compared to 4.1 percent a month earlier.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on the financial crisis and policy response in London at 8 AM ET today.

The trade gap data for November is due out at 8:30 AM ET. Economists estimate that the trade gap narrowed to $51 billion in the month. The trade gap measures the difference between imports and exports of both tangible goods and services.

The Treasury Budget, a monthly account of the surplus or deficit of the federal government is scheduled to be released at 2 PM ET. Economists expect the budget for December to show a deficit of $33 billion.

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