Singapore, Thai stock rally; currencies ebb as bets of big US rate cut ease
Singapore stocks highest since May 2018
Thai stocks rally as new PM set to deliver policy proposal
Currencies tepid as US CPI data lowers odds of 50 bps rate cut
Updates as of 0553 GMT
By Rishav Chatterjee
Sept 12 (Reuters) -Singapore equities hita more-than-six-year-high on Thursday, buoyed by rising foreign buying and economistsupgrading the city-state'sannual growth estimates, while stocks in Thailand jumped ahead of its newleader's policy proposal.
On the other hand, currency traders in emerging Asia mostly expressed caution after U.S. inflation data dampened bets of a bigger 50-basis-point Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR=, Philippine peso PHP= and Malaysian ringgit MYR= slipped around 0.1% each.
Singapore stocks .STI surged 0.4% to hit their highest since May, 2018, while shares in Bangkok .SETI added as much as 1%.
Singapore'sstock market has booked S$763 million ($585.3 million) of net institutional inflows over the last nine sessions, exchange datashowed, reversing more than half of the S$1.3 billion net outflow in the year to Aug. 29.
"Financial services have led the recent surge in net institutional inflow, followed by telecommunications, S-REITs, utilities and industrials," said Singapore Exchange (SGX) market strategist Geoff Howie.
Singapore, in August, narrowed its expectations of economic expansion this year, reflecting a resilient outlook for external demand, the same reason which economists cited for raising their growth expectations, on Wednesday.
The Singapore dollar SGD= was trading more or less unchanged on Thursday. The city-state'scentral bank, which uses the exchange rate as its main monetary policy tool, maintained an appreciating bias for the currency at its Julymeeting.
InThailand .TWII, stocksrallied on rising political stability and markets betting that new prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has a blueprint to deal with issues like an aging population and high household debts.
Shinawatra is set to deliver her government's policy proposal to parliament on Thursday.
"Focus is that Thailand's political situation has been ...stable right when we compare to July and August," said Poon Panichpibool, markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank.
"Right now everything seems to be back to normal and the new government is starting to implement their plan."
Taiwan stocks rallied nearly 3%, while those in South Korea .KS11 and Philippines .PSI added 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Thai consumer confidencedrops to 13-month low in August
** Parts of Hanoi remainflooded as landslides hit northern Vietnam
Asian currencies and markets as at 0553 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | -0.38 | -1.28 | .N225 | 3.53 | 10.78 |
China | CNY=CFXS | -0.01 | -0.31 | .SSEC | 0.19 | -8.34 |
India | INR=IN | +0.00 | -0.92 | .NSEI | 0.39 | 15.11 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.12 | -0.12 | .JKSE | 0.65 | 7.41 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.10 | +5.97 | .KLSE | 0.26 | 13.03 |
Philippines | PHP= | -0.03 | -1.08 | .PSI | 1.48 | 9.27 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | +0.24 | -3.76 | .KS11 | 1.76 | -3.68 |
Singapore | SGD= | -0.03 | +1.16 | .STI | 0.40 | 9.41 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | -0.10 | -4.37 | .TWII | 2.85 | 20.63 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.04 | +1.33 | .SETI | 0.63 | 0.60 |
($1 = 1.3034 Singapore dollars)
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sumana Nandy
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