Won Recovers Amid Tech Equity Rebound

1 month USD/KRW got above 1311 towards the end of yesterday's Asia session (note onshore spot finished up at 1310.55). However, post the close the pair mostly trended lower, finishing up in NY trade just above 1301.3. The focus today will be on whether the pair can sustain a move sub 1300, which has proved elusive in recent weeks.

• The better tone to equities certainly helped post yesterday's onshore close. The SOX rallied 3%, while the MSCI IT rose just under 2% for Tuesday's session in the US.
• This comes after the Kospi shed 2.56% yesterday, while the Kosdaq lost nearly 4%. Offshore investors sold just over $650mn of local shares.
• Elsewhere we have already had the Feb jobless rate come in lower than expected, printing at 2.6% (3.0% forecast). Jobs growth momentum continued to moderate in Feb though, with 312k more people employed over the past year, the slowest pace in 2 years.
• The BoK minutes from yesterday left the door ajar for another rate hike, although clearly a lot has changed since the last monetary policy meeting post the collapse of SVB and repricing of Fed expectations.