Most Asian stocks rise on hopes of China recovery, currencies subdued
Shanghai stocks up 3%
Kuala Lumpur stocks up 0.6%
Taiwan markets closed for a holiday
By Sneha Kumar and Echha Jain
Oct 10 (Reuters) -Most Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, enlivened by hopes that China will soon reveal details of its fiscal stimulus plans, while currencies were subdued ahead of U.S. inflation data due later in the day.
Shares in Shanghai .SSEC led the charge, gaining about 3% on anticipation for China's finance ministry to unveil detailed plans on Saturday, following a disappointing media briefing on Tuesday.
Other regional equity markets followed the lead, with benchmarks in Bangkok .SETI, Seoul .KS11 and Kuala Lumpur .KLSE adding between 0.3% and 0.6%.
"Markets may be getting optimistic that we might see a bit more detail that could support the view that China's basically trotting out and will start to grow again," said Robert Carnell, Asia-Pacific head of research at ING.
China's central bank also started accepting applications from financial institutions to join a new funding scheme, initially worth 500 billion yuan ($70.8 billion), to aid the capital market.
"If sentiment and the China story are looking more positive than they should, that should lift all the markets in the region (EM), at least for a while," Carnell added.
Most regional currencies were subdued, however, ahead of the U.S. September inflation report.
The inflation figure will give global investors more clues to the Fed's November course on monetary policy after its September meeting minutes showed "some" participants were inclined towards a quarter-point cut,a sign the rate cut cycle will not be as aggressive as previously seen.
"If the Fed was aggressively easing, then you'd likely see a much weaker dollar and that would just make it easier for the central banks that we think have room to ease (because their currencies will be looking stronger)," Carnell said.
The Philippine peso PHP=, Malaysian ringgit MYR= and Indonesian rupiah IDR= slipped between 0.1% and 0.2%.
Attention also turns to the Bank of Korea, which is expected to kickstart its easing cycle with a cut of 25 basis points on Friday, to join Asian peers Bank Indonesia and the Philippine central bank, a Reuters poll showed.
Markets in Taiwan were closed for a holiday.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia's Prabowo defends plan to expand government with 'fat' cabinet
** Talks conclude on upgrade to ASEAN-China free trade area, Singapore says
** Japan's wholesale inflation perks up, yen rise eases cost pressure
Asian currencies and stocks at 0416 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.02 | -5.49 | .N225 | 0.18 | 17.58 |
China | CNY=CFXS | +0.21 | +0.47 | .SSEC | 2.95 | 12.78 |
India | INR=IN | +0.00 | -0.90 | .NSEI | 0.27 | 15.27 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.22 | -1.63 | .JKSE | -0.02 | 3.12 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.23 | +6.99 | .KLSE | 0.55 | 13.01 |
Philippines | PHP= | -0.10 | -3.10 | .PSI | -0.27 | 14.79 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | -0.27 | -4.56 | .KS11 | 0.53 | -1.77 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.03 | +0.96 | .STI | -0.05 | 10.92 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | - | -4.43 | .TWII | - | 26.37 |
Thailand | THB=TH | +0.16 | +2.05 | .SETI | 0.30 | 3.22 |
($1=7.0646 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
