Taiwan shares plunge to six-week low, other Asian stocks steady
TMSC down 6.5%, drag Taiwan shares lower
Most regional equities set for weekly loss
Rupiah at two-week low; cenbank intervenes
U.S. PCE data in focus
Updates at 0637 GMT
By Shivangi Lahiri
July 26 (Reuters) -Taiwan stocks languished near a six-week low onFriday as investors there joined the global tech rout on worries of stretched valuations, while other regional equities trended higher recovering from the previous session's losses.
TSMC 2330.TW, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major Apple AAPL.O supplier, tumbled 5.6% in its worst session since mid-April, dragging Taiwan's benchmark .TWII 3.3% lower. The benchmark was set to log a second straight weekly loss, falling 3.3%.
The Taiwanese market was shut for the last two days due to Typhoon Gaemi.
MSCI's gauge of Asian emerging market equities .MIMS00000PUS was down 0.4% atits lowest level since mid-June. TSMC makes up just over 12% of the index. A broader index of Asian shares .MIAP00000PUS extended its 1.9% drop from the previous day.
Both indexes were also headed for a second successive weekly loss.
Investors have been fleeing out of global tech stocks overconcerns about escalations in U.S.-China trade tensions, implications of a Donald Trump presidency, lacklustre megacap earnings and valuation concerns.
However, someanalysts say the decline is also a course correction after the rally through to June when markets touched record highs.
"Some technology valuations are a bit stretched and we are seeing some sort of correction on that front," Michael Wan, senior currency analyst at MUFG said.
"Taiwan and South Korea should benefit from a fundamental perspective from greater improvement in electronic exports, notwithstanding the stretched equity valuations we see right now," Wan added.
Investors now await U.S. personalconsumption expenditure data - theFederal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation - due later in the day.
The Fed meets next week and CME's FedWatch tool currently showsa 100% chance it will begin easing interest rates in September.
Elsewhere, shares in Jakarta .JKSE rose 0.5%, while those in Manila .PSI advanced 0.6% after resuming trade following a two-day break because of the typhoon. South Korean shares .KS11 recovered from their six-week low, advancing 0.8%.
In Singapore, stocks .STI and the dollar SGD= were largely unchanged after the monetary authority kept its policy settings unchanged as it expects the economy to strengthen over the rest of 2024.
Most regional equities were headed for weekly losses, with South Korean shares set to decline for the third consecutive week.
Among currencies, the South Korean won KRW=KFTC and the Indonesian rupiah IDR= slipped around 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Philippine peso PHP= rose 0.2%.
The rupiah's fall to a two-week low of 16,295 per dollarprompted the central bank to intervene in the foreign exchange market. Late last month, the currency had depreciated to its weakest since April 2020 before recovering over the past three weeks.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark yield ID10YT=RR at 6.892%
** Japan urges G20 vigilance against excessive FX fluctuations
** POLL-Investors turn long on Singapore dollar after 7 months; bearish bets on Asian FX ease
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0637 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.16 | -8.22 | .N225 | -0.53 | 13.16 |
China | CNY=CFXS | -0.08 | -2.11 | .SSEC | -0.27 | -3.23 |
India | INR=IN | -0.02 | -0.61 | .NSEI | 0.98 | 13.41 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.31 | -5.52 | .JKSE | 0.51 | 0.06 |
Malaysia | MYR= | +0.11 | -1.40 | .KLSE | -0.12 | 10.90 |
Philippines | PHP= | +0.27 | -5.19 | .PSI | 0.62 | 4.06 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | -0.20 | -7.06 | .KS11 | 0.78 | 2.89 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.05 | -1.75 | .STI | 0.03 | 5.90 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | +0.01 | -6.40 | .TWII | -3.29 | 23.36 |
Thailand | THB=TH | +0.33 | -5.33 | .SETI | 0.64 | -8.19 |
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng
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.
