Indonesia rupiah, Philippine peso emerge top losers in Asian FX
Indonesia rupiah hits weakest since early May
Most Asian equities in the red
Vietnam's annual inflation accelerates
By Archishma Iyer
May 29 (Reuters) -The Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso led declines among weak emerging Asian currencies on Wednesday, as higher U.S. benchmark Treasury yields lifted the dollar, while investors remained wary of an important inflation reading that could drive global monetary policy.
Most Asian currencies were also set to log monthly losses due to resilient economic data in the world's largest economy that has led markets to significantly pare back rate cut bets.
The rupiah IDR= fell as much as 0.5% to trade at 16,165 per dollar, hitting its weakest since May 2, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield ID10YT=RR inched to a two-week high of 6.943%.
The Philippines peso PHP= also fell about 0.5%, lingering near the previous week's low, while the Singapore dollar SGD=, Malaysian ringgit MYR=, Taiwan dollar TWD=TP and Thai baht THB=TH traded between flat and 0.4% down.
Friday's personal consumption expenditures reading - the Fed's preferred gauge for inflation - will take centre-stage among investors, which is expected to steady on a monthly basis. The print will also decide the interest rate path the Fed is likely to adopt in the near term.
Markets are pricing in about a 45% chance of 25 basis points cut in September, as compared with 51.6% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
"USD remains supported by a Fed caution to cut rates too early. Nevertheless, we continue to see USD as a sell on rally and think that the other stretched pairs such as USD/KRW or USD/TWD could be worth looking at," analysts from Maybank said in a client note.
Most Asian equities were trading in the red as well, with shares in Seoul .KS11 losing about 1.3%, while others in Jakarta .JKSE, Kuala Lumpur .KLSE, Manila .PSI and Bangkok .SETI traded between 0.3% and 1.4% lower.
The chip-heavy Taipei benchmark .TWII, which had hit multiple record highs in the recent past, took a breather during the day, falling about 0.6%.
However, Chinese stocks .SSEC emerged as an outlier, rising 0.3%.
Elsewhere, Vietnam's consumer prices in May rose 4.44% from a year earlier, official data showed, which neared the government's target ceiling 4.5% for the year.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** KKR-SingTel consortium frontrunner to buy $1 bln stake in data centre provider, sources say
** Thai Government Savings Bank in JV with private firm to tackle household debt
** China's GDP could be 18% higher in 15 years with good reforms, IMF says
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0350 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | -0.09 | -10.32 | .N225 | -0.35 | 15.71 |
China | CNY=CFXS | -0.06 | -2.07 | .SSEC | 0.33 | 4.87 |
India | INR=IN | -0.08 | -0.05 | .NSEI | 0.00 | 5.32 |
Indonesia | IDR= | -0.43 | -4.70 | .JKSE | -1.36 | -1.62 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.13 | -2.30 | .KLSE | -0.42 | 10.62 |
Philippines | PHP= | -0.46 | -4.86 | .PSI | -0.92 | -0.13 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | -0.42 | -5.59 | .KS11 | -1.33 | 1.18 |
Singapore | SGD= | -0.02 | -2.22 | .STI | -0.07 | 2.70 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | -0.29 | -4.73 | .TWII | -0.58 | 21.20 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.16 | -6.75 | .SETI | -0.33 | -4.07 |
Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong
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