Won Slips to Lowest in 10 Months Amid Oil Price Drop and US-Japan Intervention

The South Korean won slipped to its lowest level in about 10 months on August 6th, reaching the 1,410-won range due to a combination of falling international oil prices, a strengthening Japanese yen, and improved supply-demand conditions in the foreign exchange market.

The decline was also influenced by joint intervention by the US and Japan in the foreign exchange market. The dollar index rose 0.056 to 99.746, indicating upward pressure on the dollar's weakness.

As of 3:30 PM, the won-dollar exchange rate stood at 1,423.8 won, down 0.7 won from its starting point that day. However, some analysts suggest that the exchange rate could fall into the 1,300-won range in the short term.

Park Hyung-joong, an economist at Woori Bank, stated that the exchange rate could temporarily drop to the upper 1,300-won range due to the ADR volume effect and market intervention by the US and Japan. However, if the influx of dollars from SK Hynix diminishes in the coming months and the possibility of a benchmark interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve grows, momentum for a rebound in the exchange rate could pick up.