The South Korean won slipped to around 1,464 per dollar on Tuesday, falling to its lowest level in seven months as sentiment was weighed down by concerns over ongoing capital outflows and BOK caution. Foreign investors have been pulling funds from Korean equities, while domestic investors are channeling large-scale investments into the US as part of the Seoul-Washington trade package, raising structural worries about dollar demand outstripping supply. Analysts noted that the combination of corporate investment abroad, retail flows into US stocks, and foreign selling of local equities has kept dollar demand elevated. Additionally, the Bank of Korea noted that under ‘diagnostic expectations,’ rate cuts may disproportionately boost housing prices rather than broader economic growth, with a 0.25 percentage point reduction potentially pushing home prices higher while leaving GDP, investment, and consumption gains muted.
