KRW-USD Exchange Rate at 1,350… Lowest in 8 Months [Korea Economic Daily FX Market Watch]

With the weakening of the dollar, the KRW-USD exchange rate fell to its lowest level in 8 months (meaning the value of the won rose). During intraday trading, it even dropped below 1,350 KRW.

On the 30th, at the Seoul foreign exchange market, the KRW-USD rate (as of 3:30 PM) closed weekly trading at 1,350 KRW, down 7.40 KRW from the previous session. On a weekly closing price basis, this is the lowest level in about 8 months since October 11 last year (1,349.50 KRW).

The rate opened at 1,361 KRW, up 3.60 KRW from the previous session, but showed a downward trend throughout the day. At one point during the day, it fell to as low as 1,347.10 KRW.

The reason for the drop in the exchange rate is the strong trend of a weakening dollar. After Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced the suspension of trade negotiations with Canada and mentioned that he would not extend the mutual tariff deferral period expiring on the 8th of next month, trade policy uncertainty rose, but the dollar remained weak during the day.

The Dollar Index, which reflects the dollar’s value against the currencies of six major countries, is currently at 97.060—down 0.17% from the previous session. On the 26th and 27th, it fell below the 97 mark.

Dollar selling volume from exporters at the end of the first half also appears to have had an effect.

At the same time, the KRW-JPY cross rate is 937.47 KRW per 100 JPY. This is down 2.98 KRW compared to the previous session’s 3:30 PM reference price of 940.45 KRW.

Based on the Q1 foreign exchange authority’s net transaction volume released by the Bank of Korea on this day, the authorities made a net sale of 2,960 million dollars in Q1. This was a market intervention strategy to lower the exchange rate by supplying dollars to the market.

Reporter Jinkyu Kang josep@hankyung.com