SEOUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange trading grew in the first quarter owing to robust demand for the U.S. and Chinese currencies, central bank data showed Thursday.

The daily average transaction of foreign currencies and derivatives in the domestic inter-bank market expanded 5.62 billion U.S. dollars from three months earlier to 45.43 billion dollars in the January-March quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was affected by strong demand for the U.S. currency, of which the daily average trading gained 2.05 billion dollars. The daily average transaction of the Chinese currency rose 0.80 billion dollars in the first quarter.

Demand for FX swaps mounted 2.07 billion dollars to 21.33 billion dollars, while the transaction of other derivatives, including currency swaps and options, was up 0.36 billion dollars to 3.03 billion dollars.

The daily average volatility in the South Korean won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate picked up to 0.76 percent in March from 0.58 percent in February.

The won versus dollar exchange rate soared to 1,530.1 won per dollar at the end of March from 1,439.7 won tallied a month earlier.

The premium on credit default swap, which gauges credit risk for five-year government bonds, averaged 30 basis points in March, up from 22 basis points a month ago. ■