Brown Brothers Harriman’s Elias Haddad highlights the mighty performance of South Korean assets, with the South Korean won (KRW) outperforming and the KOSPI rising sharply on the strength of AI-driven semiconductors. Bank of Korea (BoK) Governor Shin Hyun Song issued hawkish guidance, emphasizing the need to prioritize price stability. BBH notes that a 25 bp hike to 2.75% at the July 16 meeting is increasingly likely.
He has benefited from a hawkish political stance
“The KRW outperformed most currencies overnight, with the KOSPI rising as much as 8.5%, followed by a gain of 4.6%. Year-to-date, the KOSPI has been the best-performing equity market in the world, up a whopping 92%, driven by the AI-powered semiconductor boom. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are major contributors to the index.”
“Bank of Korea (BoK) Governor Shin Hyun Song made hawkish comments in line with his earlier guidance. Shin said it was “necessary to prioritize price stability and raise interest rates before it is too slow.” “
“At its last meeting on May 28, the BoK left the key interest rate unchanged at 2.50% for the eighth meeting in a row, while Shin stressed that the board “found it necessary to raise the key rate in a timely manner.” The next BoK meeting will be held on July 16, and an enhance of 25 basis points to 2.75% is increasingly likely.
(This article was created with the support of an artificial intelligence tool and has been reviewed by an editor.)
