The South Korean won traded around 1,356 per dollar, remaining in a narrow range, underpinned by Korea’s strong export performance and robust semiconductor demand. In September, exports surged 83.5% year-on-year to a record $120.9 billion, while semiconductor exports soared 263% to an all-time high of $60.3 billion, resulting in a record trade surplus of $49.85 billion. These solid export earnings helped push residents’ foreign-currency deposits to a record $140.62 billion in August. At the same time, authorities intensified efforts to stabilize the domestic bond market amid a global bond sell-off.
Offsetting these supportive factors, US Treasury yields continued to climb, with the 10-year yield hovering around 5.3% and the 30-year yield above 5.6%, both near multi-decade highs. Oil prices also rose above $100 per barrel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East. Domestically, Korea’s CPI remained at 2.9% in September, and the Bank of Korea cautioned that inflation could hover around 3% in October, heightening expectations of a potential additional rate hike.
