Won Outperforms Stronger Dollar Trend, BoK Expected To Remain On Hold

1 month USD/KRW stuck to recent ranges post the Asia close on Wednesday. The pair largely in a 1315/1320 range. We closed the NY session at 1317.60, little changed for the session, seeing the won outperform firmer USD tones elsewhere. Note onshore USD/KRW spot finished up yesterday at 1317.50.

• Whilst the tech equity related lead is negative from Wednesday's session, we have seen Nasdaq futures surge in early Asia Pac trade. We were last around +1.50%, slightly down from session highs (with a dip caused by Fitch placing the US on negative ratings watch).
• Better sales forecast from Nvidia post the US close is the main driver of this strength. Related chip firms have also rallied after the close. This in turn may aid tech related plays in Asia Pac today, including Korean related shares.
• To recap, the Kospi finished flat yesterday, outperforming weaker trends elsewhere. Offshore investors sold -$79.5mn of local shares yesterday, bringing weekly flows back to +$314.5mn.
• On the data front, we had Apr y/y PPI earlier, it printed at 1.6%, versus 3.3% prior.
• Elsewhere the main focus will be on the BoK decision, with no change expected. See our full preview here.