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Tech Equity Headwinds Rise

KRW

1 month USD/KRW reached fresh highs of just above 1295 post the Asia close, before broad based USD weakness took us back to a 1287 handle by the NY close. Note spot ended yesterday onshore at 1286.25.

  • The tech equity leads look very weak today. The SOX fell -6.24% overnight, the MSCI IT index -3.96%, while the China Golden Dragon index dipped close to -4.50%.
  • To recap, yesterday the Kospi ended up a modest 0.16%, after earlier tracking +2% higher. Offshore investors bought $211.8mln of local equities, bringing back week to date outflows to -$832.1mln.
  • Tech headwinds and global recessionary fears are likely to overshadow positive reforms announced yesterday. The government is aiming to lower the corporate tax rate back to 22%, from 25%, cut capital gains tax for most stock investors and expand onshore FX trading.
  • The eventual plan is to expand onshore FX trading to 24 hours, which Korea officials hope would pave the wave for South Korea to be included in the MSCI World Index.
  • Note there is no local data out today, but the Finance Ministry releases its monthly economic assessment at 10am local time. Yesterday the ministry downgraded the GDP outlook for 2022 to 2.6% (from 3.1%) and upgraded the inflation forecast to 4.7% (from 2.2%).

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