The daily foreign exchange (FX) turnover by banks in South Korea dropped sharply from three months earlier in the second quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid an eased market rout stemming from the new coronavirus pandemic.

The daily FX turnover came to an average $52.02 billion in the April-June period, down 12.4 percent from a daily average of $59.37 billion in the first quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Such a drop is "largely attributed to a cut in transactions of FX derivatives, while fluctuations in foreign exchange rates slowed and the outflow of foreign stock investment funds narrowed," the BOK said in a press release.

The daily average fluctuation in the won-dollar exchange rate came to 5.5 won per dollar in the second quarter, compared with 8 won in the January-March period.

Also in the second quarter, foreign investors net sold $8.03 billion worth of South Korean stocks, down from $13.33 billion in the first.

The average daily turnover of foreign exchange spots came to $20.32 billion in the three months ended June 30, down $790 million, or 3.8 percent, from three months earlier, while the daily average of FX derivatives tumbled 17.1 percent to $31.7 billion over the cited period, according to the BOK.

By bank, the daily turnover by local lenders dipped 5.8 percent on-quarter to $24.57 billion, while transactions handled by local branches of foreign banks plunged 17.6 percent to $27.45 billion. (Yonhap)