S.Korea won hits 4-wk low on econ worries, stocks

(Updates to midday)

SEOUL Jan 12 (Reuters) - The South Korean won extended falls to hit a fresh four-week low against the dollar on Monday as worries about a global recession deepened after Friday's U.S. jobs data, causing investors to seek safer assets.

The won KRW= came under further pressure as foreign investors turned to net sellers of Korean equities again, which is seen hurting the country's balance of payments.

The local currency was quoted at 1,360.3/1.3 per dollar as of 0320 GMT, compared with Friday's domestic close KRW=KFTC of 1,343.0. It fell to as low as 1,362.9, its weakest since Dec. 16, 2008.

"Many players prefer dollar-long positions and any rebound in the won will give them the opportunity to buy dollars on dips," said a local bank dealer.

South Korean shares .KS11 lost 1.94 percent as foreign investors sold a net 24.7 billion won worth of stocks in the country's main exchange after initial net buying.

Foreigners unloaded a combined net 217.5 billion won during the previous two consecutive session.

Adding more concerns over a slowdown in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the country's exports fell 40 percent during the first 10 days of January from a year ago, data from the Korea Customs Service showed.

The country's economy contracted by more than 4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter, a local newspaper reported. [ID:nSEO71523]

On Friday, U.S. data showed employers in the world's top economy slashed 524,000 jobs from payrolls in December, less than the 555,000 seen in a Reuters poll, but still bringing total job losses for 2008 to 2.6 million, the most since 1945. [ID:nN09282664]

0320 GMT 0015 GMT prev close Won KRW= 1,360.3/1.3 1,355.4/6.2 1,343.0 Yen/won JPYKRW=R 15.0960/72 15.0105/72 14.7247/10 KOSPI .KS11 1,158.02 1,175.01 1,180.96 (Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo and Lee Kyoung-ho; Editing by Keiron Henderson)