Equities rise as US data allays slowdown fears; currencies stable
Taiwan stocks rise more than 3%
S.Korean won jumps up to 1%
Most equities clock weekly losses
Philippine c.bank rate decision next week
Updates at 0620 GMT
By Adwitiya Srivastava and Sameer Manekar
Aug 9 (Reuters) -Emerging Asian equities advanced on Friday and were eyeing a positive end to an otherwise bumpy week after benign U.S. jobs data calmed recession fears and nudged the markets to pare back their bets of aggressive rate cuts by the Fed.
Taiwan's benchmark index .TWII gained about 3% while shares in South Korea .KS11 added 1.4%.
MSCI's gauge of Asian emerging market equities .MIMS00000PUS, in which the two East Asian countries hold roughly 40% weight, jumped 2%.
However, the historical sell-off on Monday weighed on the weekly score. Most benchmarks are clocking weekly losses, with those in South Korea headed for their worst levels since mid-April.
Singapore's FTSE Straits Times .STI, which was closed on Friday for National Day holiday, ended the week 3.5% lower, its worst since August 2023.
Thai stocks .SETI were down 1.2% over the week, their biggest drop since June 14.
Currencies were broadly stronger against the greenback on Friday - the Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP added 0.5% while South Korea's won KRW=KFTC jumped 1%.
Taiwan dollar, one of the weakest performers so far this year, could benefit from light foreign positioning and potential rebound in the global tech stocks, which could bring in more flows into equities, analysts at Barclays wrote.
"Headwinds (to Taiwan dollar) from capital outflows have eased significantly. Equity outflows should pause in the short run given the significant selling in July," they added.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia's ringgit MYR= appreciated 0.6%, while the Philippine peso PHP=, Singapore dollar SGD=, and the Indian rupee INR=IN edged higher.
MSCI's index of emerging market currencies .MIEM00000CUS jumped 0.4% to its highest since early April.
Global markets have endured a roller-coaster of a week, with Monday seeing a historical sell-off triggered by massive unwinding of the yen-funded carry trade as data indicated the U.S. Federal Reserve might have to be more aggressive in easing policy at a time when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) looked poised for rate hikes.
Some relief came later in the week in the form of assurances from the BOJ that more tightening may not happen at a time of heavy turbulence, sending the yen JPY=EBS sharply lower.
Further aiding the sentiment was the U.S. jobless claims data overnight on Thursday that eased concerns of an economic slowdown.
Odds of a half-point rate cut by the Fed in mid-September are down to 54% from 69% on Wednesday, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Pointing to next week's data including U.S. inflation and retail sales, Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said that "good numbers here and we could be looking at a solid rally playing through the week in equity, and risky markets more broadly".
Equities in Malaysia .KLSE and Indonesia .JKSE advanced 0.6% each, although they were on track for weekly losses.
In the Philippines, the benchmark index .PSI jumped nearly 1% on Friday and was just above water for the week ahead of the central bank meeting next week where analysts still expect a rate cut despite strong inflation.
"Keeping monetary policy tight amid softer growth and benign demand inflation may constrain growth more than necessary," analysts at Standard Chartered wrote, maintaining their view for a quarter-point rate cut on Aug. 15.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia's 10-year yield ID10YT=RR ticks higher to 6.808%
** China tells some brokerages to conduct compliance checks on bond trading, sources say
** After ban, Thai opposition party likely to fight in parliament
** Nobel laureate Yunus takes charge of Bangladesh
Asia stock indexes and currencies as at 0620 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.14 | -4.09 | .N225 | 0.88 | 5.56 |
China | CNY=CFXS | +0.08 | -1.01 | .SSEC | -0.04 | -3.57 |
India | INR=IN | +0.10 | -0.80 | .NSEI | 0.96 | 12.05 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.22 | -3.33 | .JKSE | 0.59 | -0.49 |
Malaysia | MYR= | +0.56 | +3.26 | .KLSE | 0.56 | 9.95 |
Philippines | PHP= | +0.24 | -3.25 | .PSI | 0.90 | 2.45 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | +0.98 | -5.56 | .KS11 | 1.35 | -2.41 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.17 | -0.29 | .STI | 0.37 | 0.67 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | +0.59 | -5.14 | .TWII | 2.87 | 19.73 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.08 | -3.13 | .SETI | 0.06 | -8.39 |
Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
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