Currencies rangebound, stocks slip ahead of US PCE, growth data
Corrects Nikkei's daily move in table to -1.11% from 1.11%
China's yuan, stocks pare early losses
Thai baht edges higher; rupiah, ringgit slip
Markets in Taiwan closed due to typhoon
U.S. PCE, GDP data awaited
By Sameer Manekar
July 24 (Reuters) -Most currencies in Asian emerging markets drifted within tight ranges on Wednesday as traders awaited U.S. inflation and growth data ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week to validate bets of two U.S. rate cuts over the rest of the year.
Equities in the region retreated slightly. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS and the index of Asian emerging markets equities .MIMS00000PUS slipped up to 0.3%, with the former stuck near three-week lows.
Investors are waiting for U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data - the Fed's favoured measure of inflation - and economic growth print for the second quarter due later in the week to gauge rate cut bets over the year.
Markets are pricing in 62 basis points of easing this year, with a cut in September priced in at 95%, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
A lower interest rate environment in the United States and a soft dollar tend to benefit emerging markets assets as wide interest rate differentials attract capital from investors seeking high returns and portfolio diversification.
"Broadly speaking, I would still expect EM Asia FXs to gain some strength, especially ... it is clear that the Fed will start cutting rate which could happen from the September meeting," Poon Panichpibool, a markets strategist with Krung Thai Bank, said.
"The Fed's rate cut should provide some supports from EM assets as long as the US economy is not in a severe recession," Poon said, warning that such trend should continue until market begins to price in uncertainty from the U.S. elections.
The Thai baht THB=TH and the South Korean won KRW=KFTC were up 0.2%, while the Singapore dollar SGD= added a few pips from its prior close.
Malaysian ringgit MYR= and Indonesian rupiah IDR= edged lower.
Malaysia's benchmark index .KLSE slipped 0.5% weighed by a broad-based sell-off, while shares in Thailand .SETI and Indonesia .JKSE fell about 0.4% each.
Equities in India.NSEI maintained their sour mood a day after the government raised the tax on gains from on equity investments. Thecurrency INR=IN was largely unchanged. .BO
China's Shanghai Composite index .SSEC and the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 extended their rout, with the former touching an over five-month low.
The yuan CNY=CFXS slipped to its lowest point in more than eight months, although had recovered in the afternoon trade to around7.2756 per dollar.
Markets in Taiwan .TWII, TWD=TP and the Philippines .PSI, PHP= were closed due to inclement weather.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark yield ID10YT=RR ticks lower to 6.997%
** MalaysiaJune inflation unchanged from May, below forecast
** Singapore's GICposts weakest investment gains in four years
** Sri Lanka c.bankdelivers surprise rate cut
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0635 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.62 | -8.77 | .N225 | -1.11 | 17.01 |
China | CNY=CFXS | 0.00 | -2.43 | .SSEC | -0.45 | -2.45 |
India | INR=IN | -0.01 | -0.59 | .NSEI | -0.31 | 12.29 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.12 | -5.12 | .JKSE | -0.41 | 0.15 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.02 | -1.71 | .KLSE | -0.51 | 11.46 |
Philippines | PHP= | - | -5.22 | .PSI | - | -100.00 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | +0.17 | -6.92 | .KS11 | -0.56 | 3.90 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.06 | -1.90 | .STI | -0.08 | 6.73 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | - | -6.40 | .TWII | - | 27.56 |
Thailand | THB=TH | +0.17 | -5.33 | .SETI | -0.26 | -8.32 |
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
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