The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,529.4 won on the 9th. It rose 5.6 won from the previous transaction day. Although it climbed past 1,555 won the day before, it has somewhat calmed on the back of strong verbal intervention by the foreign exchange authorities.
On this day, projections call for the won-dollar rate to be in the 1,520–1,530 won range. That is because the easing of armed clashes in the Middle East could support a weaker dollar. Israel and Iran, which exchanged fire over the weekend, agreed to halt further attacks. It came about an hour after U.S. President Donald Trump urged a cease-fire on social media.
In particular, the verbal intervention by the foreign exchange authorities is seen to have had an impact. The Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the previous day, "In the recent foreign exchange market, we judge that, in addition to supply-demand factors, certain speculative foreign exchange transactions such as non-deliverable forwards (NDF) have increased volatility," adding, "We will never tolerate excessive volatility and one-way herd behavior relative to fundamentals and will respond forcefully."
The foreign exchange authorities have reportedly decided to launch a special joint foreign exchange inspection of banks engaged in foreign exchange operations. They plan to examine whether there were speculative transactions that bet on a rise in the exchange rate.
However, there are concerns that the decline in the won-dollar rate may not be large. The U.S.-Iran end-of-war talks have not concluded, and foreigners are expected to continue net selling of domestic stocks. Foreign investors have been net sellers of domestic stocks for 21 consecutive transaction days through the previous day. Cumulative net sales during this period amount to 70 trillion won.