Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht lead falls in Asia FX on buoyant dollar
China markets closed for rest of the week
Malaysian ringgit slips from 3-1/2 year high
Tokyo shares recoup losses
By Archishma Iyer
Oct 1, (Reuters) -The Malaysian ringgit and the Thailand baht led declines among emerging Asian currencies after the dollar rose overnight on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's signal another outsized rate cut was unlikely at its next meeting in November.
The ringgit MYR= took a breather from a 3-1/2 year high to trade more than 1% lower while the baht THB=TH fell in tandem, slipping from its early 2022 highs.
Both currencies have outperformed in the ASEAN region driven by a slew of factors including improved political stability, foreign inflows and stable growth outlooks.
Other currencies such as the Taiwan dollar TWD=TP, Indonesian rupiah IDR=, the Philippines peso PHP= and the Singapore dollar SGD= traded between flat and 0.6% lower.
Onshore financial markets in China are closed for the rest for the week due to public holidays.
Shares in Shanghai .SSEC had recorded their best session in 16 years on Monday after weekend stimulus measures led to global investors pouring their money into previously beaten-down Chinese stocks.
In the U.S., Powell pushed back on aggressive policy cutting bets on Monday, forecasting the central bank was likely to stick with quarter-percentage-point interest rate cuts moving forward.
Falling U.S. interest rates boosts the attraction of riskier assets and have driven cash into emerging markets, particularly in Southeast Asia where investors have held very low exposures for years.
Investors will this week monitor inflation prints from South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines to gauge the trajectory of their respective central banks, while a key jobs report from U.S will decide the Fed's rate cut trajectory.
While Indonesia and Philippines have starting easing monetary policy, pressure is mounting on the Bank of Korea to cut rates at its upcoming meeting as growth concerns continue to overshadow inflation worries.
The Philippines central bank governor flagged on Monday that the central bank has room for a 50 basis point cut, although 25 bps will be the norm.
"Not only have the Fed's rate cut and China's stimulus measures boosted the region's risk assets, but their actions could also embolden other central banks to opt for more aggressive rate cuts than our prevailing forecasts," Juliana Lee, Deutsche Bank's chief economist for Asia wrote in a client note.
Most Asian shares rose, with stocks in Manila .PSI recovering their previous losses to trade 1.2% higher. Markets in Jakarta .JKSE, Kuala Lumpur .KLSE and Taipei .TWII rose between 0.1% and 0.7%.
Tokyo shares .N225 recouped the previous session's losses to trade about 2% higher, led by defence stocks. .T
Markets in Seoul and Hong Kong were closed due to public holidays.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Malaysia plans national cloud policy, AI regulations
** China new home prices manage tiny uptick again in September, private survey shows
** Asia's factory activity hit by global uncertainty, focus on China stimulus
Asian currencies and stocks at 0405 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | -0.44 | -2.22 | .N225 | 1.99 | 15.55 |
China | CNY=CFXS | - | +1.14 | .SSEC | - | 12.15 |
India | INR=IN | -0.02 | -0.72 | .NSEI | 0.31 | 19.14 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.39 | +1.32 | .JKSE | 0.68 | 4.21 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -1.06 | +10.20 | .KLSE | 0.11 | 13.47 |
Philippines | PHP= | -0.36 | -1.41 | .PSI | 1.22 | 14.13 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | - | -2.19 | .KS11 | - | -2.34 |
Singapore | SGD= | -0.09 | +2.57 | .STI | -0.10 | 10.54 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | -0.58 | -3.46 | .TWII | 0.73 | 24.85 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.70 | +5.43 | .SETI | 0.90 | 3.25 |
Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed
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