South Korea’s won rose, paring a weekly loss, as jobless claims in the U.S. dropped unexpectedly to the lowest level since April, easing concern that the world’s biggest economy is headed for a recession. Unemployment-benefit claims fell by 7,000 in the week ended Aug. 6 to 395,000, the Labor Department said yesterday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for an increase to 405,000. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares rose after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 4.6 percent. “Stock-market movements in Europe and the U.S will have a positive effect on market sentiment,” said Han Sung Min, a foreign-exchange dealer at Busan Bank in Seoul. “Still, gains in the won may be limited as the market remains volatile.” The won appreciated 0.5 percent to 1,076.55 per dollar as of 9:34 a.m. in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency lost 0.8 percent this week. The government has “enough policy room” to weather the global economic uncertainty and will persist with efforts to reduce “excessive” volatility in the foreign-exchange market, Deputy Finance Minister Choi Jong Ku said at a press briefing yesterday. The Bank of Korea left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.25 percent for a second month yesterday, after having raised it three times this year. Government bond yields rose for a second day. The yield on the 3.5 percent notes due June 2014 climbed four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 3.55 percent, Korea Exchange Inc. prices show. To contact the reporter on this story: Jiyeun Lee in Seoul at jlee1029@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net.

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