Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s won climbed for a fifth straight day after U.S. economic data doused concern the global recovery is stalling. Government bonds fell. U.S. service industries fared better than economists predicted in July, while employers added more workers than forecast, data released overnight showed. South Korea’s policy makers may intervene to check appreciation in the won, which today rose to its strongest level in more than two months, said Brian Jackson, a currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada. “The won is gaining support from any positive data in the major economies,” said Hong Kong-based Jackson. “Intervention is always a possibility if moves happen too quickly, but we expect the won will generally strengthen in the months ahead.” The won appreciated 0.2 percent to 1,166.45 per dollar as of the 3 p.m. close in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It earlier reached 1,164.3, its strongest level since May 19. The currency has climbed 5.2 percent in the past month, Asia’s best performance. Overseas investors sold more shares than they bought for the first time in 12 days. The government last month announced a tightening of limits on currency derivatives to curb capital flows and Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong Yong said “smoothing-operation” measures may be used to stabilize the won. Policy makers can try to influence exchange rates by buying or selling currencies. Yields Climb The nation’s current-account surplus is forecast to narrow to about $4 billion in July from a one-year high of $5.04 billion a month earlier, the Ministry of Finance and Strategy said today in a monthly economic report, citing external downside risks to growth. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses, which covers about 90 percent of the U.S. economy, rose to 54.3 from 53.8 in June. An ADP Employer Services report showed companies added 42,000 workers, compared with a gain of 30,000 that economists predicted in a Bloomberg survey. The yield on South Korea’s 3.75 percent bond due in June 2013 climbed four basis points to 3.87 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. --Editors: Ven Ram, Simon Harvey To contact the reporters on this story: Frances Yoon in Seoul at fyoon2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net.

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