Commerzbank stories that South Korea’s advance Q2 GDP rose 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and three.7% year-on-year, beating expectations. Sturdy AI-related semiconductor demand and resilient home spending underpin development. The sturdy information help prospects of an extra 25bp Financial institution of Korea hike in August. USD/KRW fell to 1,475, with the Received aided by portfolio inflows into bonds and equities.
Development shock bolsters BoK hike case
“The advance Q2 GDP rose 0.6% qoq sa (Bloomberg consensus: 0.4%) vs 1.8% in Q1. This implies that development momentum remained resilient regardless of power provide disruptions.”
“On an annual foundation, the financial system expanded 3.7% yoy (Bloomberg consensus: 3.5%) vs 3.8% beforehand. The Ministry of Economic system and Finance (MoEF) just lately upgraded its 2026 development forecast to three.0% from 2.0%, reflecting the stronger outlook for exports and funding.”
“On financial coverage, the sturdy Q2 GDP studying helps the case of one other 25bp hike to three.0% by the Financial institution of Korea (BoK) on the 27 August assembly. On the earlier assembly, Governor Shin Hyun-sung described August as a “stay” assembly, reinforcing the BoK’s data-dependent method.”
“With development remaining resilient, inflation above goal, and the AI-driven export increase broadening into wages and home demand, policymakers have scope to proceed normalising coverage.”
“In FX, USD-KRW fell 0.2% to 1,475 yesterday. The pair initially dropped 0.9% following the GDP launch earlier than paring a few of its losses later within the session. Portfolio inflows offered help for KRW, with overseas traders buying USD1.0bn of home bonds and USD3.7bn of equities to date this week.”
(This text was created with the assistance of an Synthetic Intelligence device and reviewed by an editor. Know extra.)

