The dollar firmed across Asia as the Bank of Korea flagged leveraged ETF risks tied to Samsung and SK Hynix. USD/JPY tested 161.80. The US ISM services print is the next catalyst for the greenback.
Alpha Score of 43 reflects weak overall profile with moderate momentum, weak value, weak quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals — score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
OPEC+ added to global supply for a fifth straight month, with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman all participating in the latest increase. The widely expected decision left crude prices largely unchanged on the session.
The US dollar reasserted itself across the board. [USD/JPY](/markets/coinbases-july-update-ambition-without-numbers) tracked back toward 161.80. The euro, sterling, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar all lost ground against the greenback.
The firmer dollar tone came as South Korea's Kospi underperformed regional peers. Chip stocks weighed after a weekend warning from the Bank of Korea. The central bank flagged that single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could deepen market concentration and amplify volatility. Those two stocks account for 55.3% of the Kospi's total market capitalisation and 63.5% of its trading value. The Bank of Korea said daily rebalancing mechanisms structurally magnify price swings and threaten to widen retail investor losses in any downturn.
Japan's Nikkei slipped off its earlier highs to trade lower on the day. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong held up comparatively well. Shanghai's benchmark straddled the neutral line. US equity index futures, supported in early trade, gave back those gains as the session progressed.
The yen started the week on shaky footing. The dollar's broad strength and a lack of fresh intervention warnings from Tokyo left USD/JPY testing the upper end of its recent range. Japanese officials have previously stepped in near these levels.
The OPEC+ decision itself was a non-event for crude. The dollar's move matters more for the region. A stronger greenback pressures Asian currencies broadly. The Bank of Korea's warning adds a layer of domestic risk for Korean won and equity exposure. The Kospi's heavy reliance on two stocks means any ETF-driven unwind could spill into the broader index, with knock-on effects for the won if foreign investors reduce positions.
For forex traders, the week's early action sets up a test of whether USD/JPY can hold above 161.80 and whether the euro and sterling can find support after the dollar's Monday push. The next scheduled data point that could shift the dollar's trajectory is the US ISM services print later in the week.
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