(Sept 7): The South Korean won advanced to its strongest level in nearly two years Monday, helped by a rally in semiconductor stocks and continued foreign inflows into the country’s benchmark equity index.

The won gained as much as 1.3% to 1,334.70 per dollar, its strongest level since October 2024. Its relative strength index, a gauge of momentum, rose to the highest since 2013, underscoring the pace of the currency’s advance.

The rally in stocks was led by chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc on Monday, while foreign investors bought over a net 800 billion won (US$598 million) of Korean stocks on the Kospi Index, extending inflows to a third session, according to exchange data. Continued demand for Korean assets may provide further support for the currency, though the speed of gains may be harder to sustain.

“The Korea won strength, at around 6% year to date, also looks increasingly stretched and could encourage domestic asset managers to unwind foreign-asset hedges or prompt renewed retail outbound equity investment,” Geoffrey Yu, a senior strategist at Bank of New York Mellon, wrote in a note.

Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy