FX.co ★ South Korean Won Recovers as Oil Prices Retreat

The South Korean won strengthened to around 1,338 per dollar on Tuesday, rebounding from the previous session’s losses as declining oil prices helped ease energy-related pressures. Brent crude slipped to roughly $105 per barrel after Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, backed the government’s pursuit of peace talks, alleviating some concerns about potential supply disruptions.

That said, the won’s advance remained limited amid continued foreign equity outflows and mounting doubts about the profitability of large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure investments, which have kept foreign inflows into technology-heavy Asian markets fragile.

At the same time, the US dollar index hovered near 101.8 as investors stayed cautious ahead of the US midterm elections and key economic releases later in the week.

On the domestic front, South Korea’s inflation eased to 2.8% in October from 2.9% in September. However, underlying price pressures persisted, in part due to a 14.9% rise in petroleum product prices, strengthening the argument for the central bank to maintain a restrictive monetary policy stance.