This currency reigns supreme in Asian emerging-market plays

BANGKOK (Feb 20): As the most sensitive emerging Asian currency, South Korea’s won provides the best proxy for investors looking to bet on how the region reacts to US President Donald Trump.

The currency’s volatility is 11% for the past year, more than all of its peers in the region, including the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The won is also the strongest, rising 5.3% against the dollar year-to-date.

“The won is very sensitive to political uncertainties in the US, and in particular now, in the run-up to the US fiscal policies to be announced by Trump in the coming weeks,” said Yann Quelenn, market strategist at Swissquote Bank SA, the second-most accurate won forecaster in Bloomberg’s quarterly rankings.

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