HSBC analysts believe that South Korea’s central bankers could lower growth and inflation projections Thursday, but the BOK may not necessarily further cut rates after last month’s surprise rate cut.
“The BOK lowered its policy rate to a record low of 1.75 percent in March. That will give BOK officials more time to monitor economic developments before easing further,” HSBC said.
Year-to-date, the currency hedged Deutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBKO) is up 2.5% and rival WisdomTree Korea Hedged Equity Fund (NasdaqGM: DXKW) is 5.2% higher. Meanwhile, the non-hedged iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWY) rose 4.9% so far this year. [Muted Reaction to Rate Cut for South Korea Hedged ETFs]
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Max Chen contributed to this article.