USD/KRW remains bid after BOK stands pat on interest rates

USD/KRW has barely moved in response to BOK's status quo rate decision.
The central bank cut rates in July and October and is now on a wait-and-watch mode.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Korean Won (KRW) is not impressed by the Bank of Korea's status quo rate decision.

The central bank kept the seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 1.25%, having reduced rates in July and October. Essentially, the bank is on a wait and watch mode and intends to assess the effects of the recent easing on the economy battered by the Sino-US trade tensions.

A status quo decision was expected and has so far failed to move the needle on interest rates. At press time, the USD/KRW pair is trading at 1179, representing marginal gains on the day.

Governor Lee Ju-yeol is due to hold a news conference at 0220 GMT when he is expected to offer insights on the next possible move and publish the revised 2019-2020 economic growth and inflation forecasts.

Korean Won will likely come under pressure, pushing USD/KRW to the 100-day average resistance at 1,186 if the Governor talks dovish, reviving bets for deeper rate cuts in 2020.

That said, the expectation for a further rate cut would remain high until clear evidence emerges to show the economy is firmly on a rebound, according to Paik Yoon-min, fixed-income analyst at Kyobo Securities.

Technical levels

USD/KRW

Overview
Today last price	1179.82
Today Daily Change	1.00
Today Daily Change %	0.08
Today daily open	1178.82

Trends
Daily SMA20	1168.22
Daily SMA50	1179.46
Daily SMA100	1188.52
Daily SMA200	1172.93

Levels
Previous Daily High	1180.7
Previous Daily Low	1176.34
Previous Weekly High	1181.69
Previous Weekly Low	1162.4
Previous Monthly High	1208.54
Previous Monthly Low	1159.47
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1179.03
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1178.01
Daily Pivot Point S1	1176.54
Daily Pivot Point S2	1174.26
Daily Pivot Point S3	1172.18
Daily Pivot Point R1	1180.9
Daily Pivot Point R2	1182.98
Daily Pivot Point R3	1185.26

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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