Forex Flash: South Korea surprised with a 25 bp rate cut to 2.5% - BBH

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Brown Brothers Harriman analysts note that South Korea surprised with a 25 bp rate cut to 2.5% overnight.

They comment that the cut weighed on the won, against which the dollar gained almost 0.5%. and helped the Kospi rally and its 1.2% gain was the best in the region and among the best globally today, as the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index snapped a 4-day advance. Elsewhere, they note that Thailand's central bank seemed to confirm the likelihood that a rate cut may soon be delivered and this underpinned Thai shares. Also, Malaysia’s central bank kept rates steady at 3.0%, as expected, despite weak trade and IP data for March reported this week.