SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's September foreign exchange reserves fell for the first time in four months, driven by reducing foreign currency deposits by financial institutions and asset entrustment for the U.S. strategic investments, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The total reserves sank 1.72 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 440.56 billion dollars at the end of September, marking the first decrease since May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The downturn was attributed to a decline in foreign currency deposits by financial institutions and asset entrustment to the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, a temporary state-run agency to manage South Korea's strategic investments in the United States worth 350 billion dollars.

A reduction in the U.S.-dollar-converted value of non-dollar assets also contributed to the sliding reserves. The dollar index, which gauges the U.S. dollar value versus six major peers, went up 1.7 percent last month.

By asset type, securities made up the largest share at 386.03 billion dollars, accounting for 87.6 percent of the total reserves.

Deposits amounted to 29.95 billion dollars, followed by special drawing rights with 15.48 billion dollars, gold holdings with 4.79 billion dollars and the country's IMF reserve position with 4.30 billion dollars. ■

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