Forex News
ING’s Chris Turner reports that the Korean Won (KRW) continues to advance, driven by back-to-back Bank of Korea (BoK) rate hikes to 3.00% and a Dot Plot pointing to 3.25% in six months. Upgraded Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecasts linked to a chip export boom underpin the currency, though authorities may worry about KRW/JPY highs and USD/KRW looks due for consolidation.
BoK tightening and export-led growth
"The Korean won continues its advance. The driver this week has been back-to-back rate hikes from the Bank of Korea, with the policy rate now a reasonably high 3.00%. The Bank of Korea has its own, Fed-like, Dot Plot."
"The median expectation is for the policy rate to reach 3.25% in six months' time. The good news is that rate hikes are not only being driven by above-target inflation, but by broadening and strengthening growth prospects. GDP forecasts have been revised substantially higher for 2026 and 2027 as the chip export boom filters across large parts of the economy."
"However, KRW/JPY has quickly returned to the highs seen in 2023/24. This might be a problem for Korean authorities fearful of Japanese competition in third markets. Yet having suffered such a weak won for so long, we suspect local authorities will be prepared to tolerate current strength."
"There is an outside risk to 1350, but USD/KRW has come a long way in a short space of time and is probably due some consolidation."
(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor. Know more.)
DBS Group strategists Taimur Baig and Nathan Chow expect Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to keep its Overnight Policy Rate unchanged at 2.75% on September 3, maintaining the stance adopted after its July 2025 insurance cut. They highlight contained Malaysian inflation and robust 2026 growth near 5%, arguing there is little urgency for rate hikes despite some market expectations.
BNM expected to stay on hold
"We expect BNM to maintain its Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75% on September 3, unchanged since its 25bps insurance rate cut in July 2025."
"The central bank will likely continue assessing that the current monetary policy stance remains conducive to supporting economic growth amid ongoing price stability."
"As a result, overall growth could be around 5% in 2026."
"While some market participants expect BNM to reverse its previous insurance easing with a rate hike over the next couple of meetings, we see little urgency for the central bank to do so."
"Malaysia’s headline inflation has remained contained despite the Middle East shock, easing to 1.8% yoy in July 2026, the lowest since March, and within policymakers’ 2026 average forecast of 1.5-2.5%."
(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor. Know more.)
- USD/MXN reclaims 17.00 as Warsh fuels US Dollar rebound.
- Hawkish Fed tone sharply lifts year-end rate-hike expectations.
- Mexico jobless rate holds steady while trade surplus narrows.
The Mexican Peso (MXN) depreciates against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, down by over 0.42% on hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole Symposium. This prompted investors to price in a potential rate hike in 2026, a tailwind for the Greenback. The USD/MXN pair trades at 17.04, after bouncing off daily lows of 16.94.
USD/MXN weakens after Jackson Hole remarks revive Fed tightening expectations
Warsh’s speech set the tone for markets, which were uncertain whether the new Fed Chair would provide some guidance. Although he emphasized that the US central bank would become more “quiet,” he made inflation the main priority, recognizing that underlying inflation measures have not improved.
He added that the Fed has a fixed PCE goal at 2%, and if prices do not ease, then “we have work to do.”
Following his remarks, USD/MXN reclaimed the 17.00 level, propelled by overall US Dollar strength.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the buck’s value against a basket of peers, rises by over 0.52% to 99.64, near seven-day highs, as investors grow confident that the Fed will raise rates towards the end of the year.
Other US data showed that Consumer Sentiment in August deteriorated, according to the University of Michigan. At the same time, the Nonfarm Payrolls Annual Revision came at -79K, below forecasts of 183K, improving from the previous revision of -911K.
In Mexico, the Unemployment Rate was unchanged at 2.9% in July, below forecasts of 3%, while the Trade Balance posted a $0.465 billion surplus for the same period, below June’s $3.752 billion increase.
Next week, Mexico’s economic docket will feature the Fiscal Balance on August 31, followed by the August Consumer Confidence on September 3. In the US, the schedule will unveil the ISM Manufacturing and Services PMIs, jobs data, the Fed’s Beige Book and August’s Nonfarm Payrolls report on September 4.
USD/MXN Price Forecast: Technical Outlook
In the daily chart, USD/MXN trades at 17.0362, keeping a bearish near-term tone as spot holds below the clustered simple moving averages around 17.3077 and under the broader descending trend-line structure. The Relative Strength Index (14) at 41.7 has recovered from oversold territory but remains below the 50 line, which only hints at easing downside pressure rather than a sustained bullish shift while price action stays capped by overhead resistance.
On the topside, initial resistance is located at the simple moving averages grouped near 17.3077, where a daily close above would be needed to challenge the medium-term descending trend line stemming from 18.1651 and, further up, the longer-term bearish line drawn from 21.0808. On the downside, the lack of clearly defined nearby support levels from the provided indicators suggests that any sustained break under the recent 17.00 area would expose lower ground, keeping risks skewed toward additional MXN strength unless spot can reclaim the cited resistance cluster.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Mexican Peso FAQs
The Mexican Peso (MXN) is the most traded currency among its Latin American peers. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Mexican economy, the country’s central bank’s policy, the amount of foreign investment in the country and even the levels of remittances sent by Mexicans who live abroad, particularly in the United States. Geopolitical trends can also move MXN: for example, the process of nearshoring – or the decision by some firms to relocate manufacturing capacity and supply chains closer to their home countries – is also seen as a catalyst for the Mexican currency as the country is considered a key manufacturing hub in the American continent. Another catalyst for MXN is Oil prices as Mexico is a key exporter of the commodity.
The main objective of Mexico’s central bank, also known as Banxico, is to maintain inflation at low and stable levels (at or close to its target of 3%, the midpoint in a tolerance band of between 2% and 4%). To this end, the bank sets an appropriate level of interest rates. When inflation is too high, Banxico will attempt to tame it by raising interest rates, making it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow money, thus cooling demand and the overall economy. Higher interest rates are generally positive for the Mexican Peso (MXN) as they lead to higher yields, making the country a more attractive place for investors. On the contrary, lower interest rates tend to weaken MXN.
Macroeconomic data releases are key to assess the state of the economy and can have an impact on the Mexican Peso (MXN) valuation. A strong Mexican economy, based on high economic growth, low unemployment and high confidence is good for MXN. Not only does it attract more foreign investment but it may encourage the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) to increase interest rates, particularly if this strength comes together with elevated inflation. However, if economic data is weak, MXN is likely to depreciate.
As an emerging-market currency, the Mexican Peso (MXN) tends to strive during risk-on periods, or when investors perceive that broader market risks are low and thus are eager to engage with investments that carry a higher risk. Conversely, MXN tends to weaken at times of market turbulence or economic uncertainty as investors tend to sell higher-risk assets and flee to the more-stable safe havens.
Commerzbank’s Volkmar Baur challenges recent internal analysis on CNY undervaluation and exports, arguing that China’s exchange-rate management and gold purchases point to deliberate weakening. He highlights China’s outsized export and trade-surplus gains since 2019 and notes that a roughly 20% real exchange-rate advantage is unlikely to be neutral for global trade flows.
Exchange-rate policy and export dominance
"Between 2019 and the end of 2025, China increased its real exports by 47%, while global trade grew by only 15% over the same period. China has therefore gained market share somewhere in the world. During the same period, China’s trade surplus rose from about USD 400 billion to USD 1,180 billion."
"Looking exclusively at manufactured goods, China’s trade surplus in 2025 amounted to 1.75% of global gross domestic product. Even in their best years, the world’s top exporters - Germany and Japan - did not even reach this figure combined."
"Unlike the D-Mark or the JPY - which, however, appreciated sharply against the US dollar in the late 1980s - the real exchange rate of the CNY depreciated by about 10% on a trade-weighted basis between 2019 and 2025, and by as much as 22% against the euro."
"Now, certainly not all of this can be attributed to the undervalued CNY. In economics, there is rarely (if ever) just one reason for a particular outcome. And in some product groups, China has actually created a global export market where none existed before."
"But as an economist, I find it nevertheless difficult to argue that a 20% price difference has no effect on supply and demand."
(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor. Know more.)
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