1 Month Above 1360, Opposition Party Maintains Strong Majority In Parliamentary Elections

1 month USD/KRW got to fresh highs above 1364 in NY trade on Wednesday. These are levels last seen back in late 2022. We finished the session near 1362, a won loss of 0.86%. Onshore markets were closed yesterday for the general assembly elections, with Tuesday's onshore spot close at 1354.95.

• The opposition Democratic Party retained a majority in yesterday's elections (see this BBG link for more details). This will be seen as a blow to President Yoon's agenda, part of which has focused on boosting local stock valuations to close the so-called South Korean discount.
• Elsewhere, the lead for South Korean stocks is negative today, given the spike in US yields post Wednesday's stronger than expected CPI print. We had the SOX index down 1.65% in US trade, while the MSCI IT fell near 0.80% for Wednesday's session.
• For USD/KRW, focus may rest on official pushback to FX weakness given fresh lows for the won. Early Nov 2022 highs in the pair printed just above 1383 (for the 1 month NDF).
• On the data front today we have bank lending to households while tomorrow the BoK decision is due, although no change is expected.