20260830 Domestic Economic Issues

🗂 Bank of Korea Rate Hike Aftermath & KOSPI Attempts to Settle Above 6,800 Following the shock decision by the Monetary Policy Board in August to raise the benchmark interest rate to 3.00% (annual), and amidst foreign selling pressure that caused a sharp decline, the domestic stock market has halted its fall over the weekend and is now consolidating to reclaim the 6,800 mark on the weekly chart. 🗂 USD/KRW Exchange Rate Settles Below 1,370, Foreign Exchange Supply Stabilizes Bolstered by the narrowing interest rate gap between Korea and the US and a surge in export-related dollar sales at the end of the month, the USD/KRW exchange rate has fallen to the early 1,370s. Compared to earlier concerns of breaching 1,500, the downward pressure on the Korean won appears to be somewhat easing. 🗂 Foreign Semiconductor Selling Eases, Capital Flows into Value-up & Financial Stocks The pace of foreign selling in IT tech stocks, which saw trillions of won in outflows late last week, has somewhat moderated ahead of the weekend. Meanwhile, capital continues to shift towards high-dividend financial stocks like banks and insurance, which are expected to benefit from the interest rate hike.