The won leads gains in Asian EMFX........>

KOREAN WON: The won leads gains in Asian EMFX basket as risk appetite has picked

up. Sentiment has been buoyed by reports of progress in research into a

coronavirus vaccine (downplayed by the WHO), hopes for the containment of the

deadly disease (no. of deaths & cases tick ever higher) & for policy action to

mitigate the economic toll. 

- KRW is printing fresh session highs vs. USD China decided to halve additional

tariffs on $75bn worth of U.S. goods, effective on Feb 14.

- USD/KRW has shed 10.20 fig., last trades at KRW1,181.20. The nearby 38.2%

retracement of the YtD range/200-DMA at KRW1,180.22/11 provide the initial

bearish target. A break opens the 100-DMA at KRW1,176.86. A further sell-off

would expose the Jan 29 low/50-DMA at KRW1,173.95/58. Bulls need a rebound above

the KRW1,190.00 mark to bring the Feb 3 high of KRW1,198.50 into view.

- South Korea confirmed 4 more coronavirus cases today, bringing the domestic

count to 23. Three of them are probably human-to-human transmissions. On the

bright side, on Wednesday a South Korean man was released from hospital, having

recovered from a coronavirus infection.