Taiwan stocks skid as tech rout extends; Asian currencies range-bound

Reuters

Taiwan stocks skid as tech rout extends; Asian currencies range-bound

Hul 22, 2024 sa 5:33 AM GMT

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Taiwan stocks eye worst day in 3-mths

Taiwan dollar at over 8-year low

Asian equities largely mixed

By Roushni Nair

July 22 (Reuters) -Taiwanese shares tanked to a one-month low on Monday with the Taiwanese dollar leading losses among other subdued Asian currencies, while China's central bank cut key interest rates in a surprise move to boost consumer confidence amid shaky growth.

Taiwan stocks .TWII slumped as much as 3.2% at 22,130.9, its steepest percentage loss since April 19, after concerns around trade disruptions, including further curbs by Washington on semiconductor sales to China capped risk appetite. The Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP followed suit to retreat 0.4%, its lowest since mid-March 2016.

The U.S. dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, marginally eased 0.1% to 104.3 by 0414 GMT after U.S. President Joe Biden announced an end to his reelection campaign.

In Southeast Asia, the South Korean won KRW=KFTC fell 0.2%, while the Indonesian rupiah IDR= and the Philippine peso PHP= lost 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.

In Taiwan, the declines in the benchmark were largely led by technology firms and local chip stocks, with TSMC 2330.TW, Asia's most valuable listed company, having lost over 2%.

About 90% of the world's most advanced semiconductors are produced in Taiwan, largely through TSMC - the world's largest producer and a major supplier to tech giants Apple AAPL.O and Nvidia NVDA.O.

Stocks in Taiwan marked their heaviest weekly drop in three months, though, the benchmark is the best performer in the region having added over 24% in value so far this year.

"But, on an overall basis, the Taiwan stock market has been performing quite well, so perhaps a recent weakness could also be that investors are taking profits off the table, given that in the coming months, there will be more volatility with U.S. elections in November," Lloyd Chan, Senior Currency Analyst at MUFG said.

In China, the central bank surprised markets by lowering a key short-term policy rate to 3.35% from 3.45% to boost confidence in the world's second-largest economy that is verging on deflation and faces a prolonged property crisis.

The Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS was largely unchanged and stocks in Shanghai .SSEC dropped 0.7% after the news did little to prop up investor sentiment in Southeast Asia's largest trading partner.

The Singapore dollar SGD= and shares .STI traded flat with investor focus now turning to an inflation print due on Tuesday followed by a policy meeting by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Wednesday.

Equities in Asia were largely mixed with those in Kuala Lumpur .KLSE and Seoul .KS11 losing over 1% each, while shares in Manila .PSI and Jakarta .JKSE adding over 0.3%.

Malaysia will report its inflation reading for June on Wednesday.

"The diesel price hike likely nudged CPI inflation slightly higher in June," analysts at Barclays wrote.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 3.9 basis points to 6.986%

** Indonesia may import up to 4.3 mln tons of rice in 2024, official says

** Markets in Thailand are closed for a public holiday

Asia stock indexes and currencies at 01519 GMT
COUNTRY	FX RIC	FX DAILY %	FX YTD %	INDEX	STOCKS DAILY %	STOCKS YTD %
Japan	JPY=	+0.03	-10.40	.N225	1.27	18.83
China	CNY=CFXS	-0.05	-2.41	.SSEC	-0.71	-0.46
India	INR=IN	+0.01	-0.53	.NSEI	0.06	12.95
Indonesia	IDR=	-0.25	-5.12	.JKSE	0.22	0.52
Malaysia	MYR=	+0.09	-1.94	.KLSE	-1.05	11.32
Philippines	PHP=	-0.12	-5.19	.PSI	0.46	5.78
S.Korea	KRW=KFTC	+0.07	-7.28	.KS11	-1.24	3.97
Singapore	SGD=	+0.00	-1.91	.STI	-0.05	6.35
Taiwan	TWD=TP	-0.43	-6.50	.TWII	-2.62	24.21
Thailand	THB=TH	+0.00	-5.83	.SETI	-0.58	-6.97