BENGALURU: South Korean shares notched a record close on Thursday after the Bank of Korea held interest rates, signalling an end to a more than a year-long easing cycle, while other emerging Asian shares held steady in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the South Korean won fell as much as 0.6 percent to 1,473.40 a dollar, trimming the 1 percent gain in the previous session, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the currency was not in line with the country’s economic fundamentals.
The KOSPI index ended up 1.6 percent, just a few points shy of the key 4,800-point level, boosted by top chipmakers Samsung Electronics and peer SK Hynix. Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea (BoK) held pat on interest rates at 2.50 percent, in line with market expectations, as it prioritised financial stability. The BoK has delivered 100 basis points of cumulative cuts since October 2024.
“Our sense is that signals of ending policy easing could be insufficient to stem KRW depreciation, and it may take a concerted effort from the National Pension Service, Ministry of Finance, and BoK, like in December 2025,” said Shaun Lim, a forex strategist at Maybank. BoK Governor Rhee Chang-yong, in a press conference, said domestic residents’ purchases of overseas artificial intelligence-related stocks were a key driver of the won’s weakness. “A continued AI boom should also be positive for the Korean won, but sentiment is fickle and can flip quickly, with currencies likely to bear the brunt of the first move,” Lim added.
The MSCI gauges of Emerging Market Asia equities and global EM equities slipped from their record levels touched in the previous session, declining around 0.2 percent each.
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