KOREAN CURRENCY FALLS SHARPLY PAST 1,500 WON AMID OIL PRICE SURGE

SEOUL, March 19 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- The South Korean currency fell markedly past the 1,500-won level against the US dollar Thursday as global oil prices surged amid intensifying tensions in West Asia.

The won opened at 1,505 per dollar, down 21.9 won from the previous session, breaching the psychologically and technically critical 1,500-won threshold, according to Yonhap news agency.

On Monday, the won touched the level for the first time since March 2009 in intraday trading amid surging global oil prices, the West Asia crisis and concerns about supply disruptions.

The weakness came as global oil prices rose more than 5 percent on Wednesday, following Israel's attack on natural gas facilities linked to Iran's South Pars field, the world's largest gas field.

In response, Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened to target oil and gas facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, heightening the risk of further disruptions to energy supplies, according to foreign media reports.

Hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell regarding the situation in Iran also added pressure on the won.

At a press conference following the decision to hold the benchmark interest rate steady Wednesday, Powell said the surge in oil prices has increased inflationary pressures, signaling a cautious stance on the timing of further rate cuts.

The Fed decided to leave the rate unchanged at the 3.5-3.75 percent range for the second consecutive time, while maintained its projection of one rate cut this year.

The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, climbed well above the 100 level.

South Korea's foreign exchange and stock markets have shown heightened volatility since the beginning of this month following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP