USD/KRW Back Above 1300, Business Sentiment Dips

1 month USD/KRW climbed back above 1300 post the Asia close. We ended the NY session just above 1301, as the USD saw broad based support. USD/JPY printed at fresh cyclical highs as well, which likely had some spill over to the won. Note, spot USD/KRW ended yesterday at 1299.50.

• Earlier, business manufacturing sentiment fell to 83 from 87 last month, while non-manufacturing sentiment dipped to 81 from 86. Both series continue to lose momentum, although we are well above 2020 lows, see the chart below. This follows yesterday's sharp dip in consumer confidence to 96.4 from 102.6.
• Later this morning we get industrial production data for May. The market expects a 0.5% MoM gain (-3.3% previous), while the YoY pace is forecast to rise to 4.0% (3.3% last). The cyclical leading index for May is also out, -0.3 was the last print.
• Aggregate US equity leads were close to flat overnight, although the SOX index fell by more than 2%, the MSCI IT index was down by just 0.09%. Yesterday, the Kospi dipped just over -1.8%. Offshore investors sold $292.4mn in local equities.
• South Korean President Yoon met with US President Biden and Japan Prime Minister Kishida on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid. This was the first time the leaders of the 3 countries had met together since 2017. The focus of the trilateral meeting was increasing cooperation to deal with the North Korea nuclear threat.
• The South Korean government will raise the minimum wage by 5% next year. This will affect up to 3.4 million workers, although the rise is less than what was typically delivered under the previous government.

Fig 1: South Korea Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing Indices Dip Further

Source: MNI - Market News/Bloomberg