The South Korean won strengthened around 1,430 per dollar, hovering near six-week highs, as the US dollar weakened after remarks from President Trump calling for lower interest rates and offering no clarity on tariffs. During his World Economic Forum speech, Trump urged immediate rate cuts and reiterated his support for low taxes on US manufacturers, while promising tariffs on companies that produce abroad. However, since his inauguration, he has refrained from aggressive tariffs or specifying new duties. At home, South Korea's Acting President, Choi Sang-mok, ordered authorities to monitor US policy shifts and global markets, citing heightened uncertainty. Meanwhile, recent data showed South Korea's Q4 GDP grew 0.1%, missing the 0.2% forecast, with annual growth of 1.2%, below the expected 1.4%. This, along with a 2% growth for the whole 2024, has fueled bets that the Bank of Korea may implement further rate cuts, despite a modest rebound in business confidence to 63 in January 2025.
The USDKRW decreased 4.8400 or 0.34% to 1,430.9900 on Friday January 24 from 1,435.8300 in the previous trading session. Historically, the USDKRW reached an all time high of 1995.00 in December of 1997. South Korean Won - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January 25 of 2025.
The USDKRW decreased 4.8400 or 0.34% to 1,430.9900 on Friday January 24 from 1,435.8300 in the previous trading session. The South Korean Won is expected to trade at 1490.30 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 1546.38 in 12 months time.