The won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,505.2 won on the 3rd. It fell 14.5 won from the previous day.
It is seen as an effect of growing expectations that the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran shut due to the Middle East war, will reopen. When geopolitical risk eases, markets see risk appetite revive. In that case, the value of the won, which is not a reserve currency, tends to rise.
According to local media, Iran is establishing a joint protocol with Oman to ensure safe and smooth navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. On the 2nd (local time), semi-official Tasnim News reported that Iran Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said in an interview with Sputnik that "in peacetime, Iran and Oman, as littoral states, will ensure safe and smooth navigation through cooperation."
Vice Minister Gharibabadi also said, "Even after the war ends, if some countries use war as a policy tool, ships of the aggressor and its supporters, whether merchant vessels or warships, will not be allowed to pass through the strait." Regarding the protocol being worked on with Oman, he said it is "a mechanism not for restrictions but to provide better services to ships and to facilitate safe passage."
Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at iM Securities, said, "Given the shock to the U.S. economy from high oil prices, the midterm elections and the U.S.-China summit scheduled for mid-May, and to pressure the Federal Reserve for a rate cut, U.S. President Donald Trump is highly likely to begin in earnest a (war) exit strategy this month."