Published at 01:42 (GMT) 31 Jul
South Korea's ruling party won a landslide victory in Wednesday's parliamentary by-elections in a boost to President Park Geun-hye's conservative administration and a blow to the liberal opposition camp. The polls, seen as a midterm referendum on the Park government, had widely been expected to be a tight race between the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) due to uncertainties about voter sentiment following April's deadly ferry sinking, among other variables. However, ruling party candidates secured victories in 11 of the 15 constituencies up for grabs, leaving NPAD with the remaining four seats, according to the National Election Commission. The elections raised the number of seats belonging to the ruling party to 158. NPAD now has 130 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.
Meanwhile, in continuing provocations, N.Korea fired off four short-range rockets in an eastern direction on Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, in the second such provocation in less than a week.
On FX, USD/KRW opened at 1027.5 vs. last close at 1024.3 as dollar gained ground after the better than expected US Q2 GDP data. Prices eased back and were last seen wobbling around 1026.0 lvls. Don't expect over extended moves; price may remain between 1022.0, while upside is likely to be guarded by 1028.0. JPY/KRW back below the 10.00 lvl as JPY weakened against beyond 103.00 mark against the greenback in the NY trading. KOSPI off from above 2090.0 but still supported above 2080.0; early morning Samsung electronics reported its Q2 results; net profit fell 19.5%y/y as its mainstay handset business suffered from rising competition in the global market. BB
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