Asian currencies slip after hawkish Fed minutes; stocks inch up
Taiwan shares hit all-time high
Malaysian stocks touch over 3-year high
S.Korea central bank keeps rates unchanged
By John Biju
May 23 (Reuters) -Emerging Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, with Taiwan hitting a record high, while most currencies in the region retreated as the U.S. dollar held firm after hawkish Federal Reserve minutes pushed back bets of rate cuts this year.
Malaysia's ringgit MYR= retreated 0.4%, the Philippine peso PHP= fell 0.3% and Thailand's baht THB=TH slipped 0.2%.
Market participants were also cautious as China's military started two days of "punishment" drills held in five areas around Taiwan just days after new Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took office.
Equities in China .SSEC declined as much as 1.2%. Taiwan stocks .TWII rose up to 0.5%, after AI chip leader Nvidia NVDA.O forecast quarterly revenue above estimates on Wednesday.
MSCI's index of Asia pacific IT stocks excluding Japan .MIAPJIT00NUS rose over 1% to hit a more than two-year high.
Stocks in Malaysia .KLSE rose as much as 0.7% to touch a more than three-year high, while those in the Philippines .PSI climbed 0.3%.
Fed officials at their April 30-May 1 session indicated they still had faith that price pressures would ease, if only slowly, but the meeting minutes also reflected discussion of possible tightening.
"Outlook for Asian currencies is muted given that the Fed is set to keep rates higher for longer, but it's less challenging now," said Wei Liang Chang, a macro strategist (FX and credit) at DBS Bank.
"We are settling back into more rangebound environment for Asian currencies."
In Asia, the Bank of Korea (BoK) held interest rates at a 15-year high and reiterated risks around inflationary pressures in the wake of stronger-than-expected economic growth.
"Given the increasing upside risks to inflation, the BoK's stance will remain hawkish for some time. We maintain our view that the first rate cut is likely to come in October," analysts at ING wrote.
Equities in South Korea .KS11 advanced 0.3%, while the won KRW=KFTC was largely unchanged.
Bank Indonesia kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and reiterated that the current benchmark level is likely enough to keep inflation in check and the rupiah currency stable.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Japan's factory activity expands for first time in a year, PMI shows
** Prices of China's special treasuries on exchange drop after debut surge
** India central bank's record dividend to government may reduce fiscal gap
#NAME? | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.03 | -9.99 | .N225 | 1.21 | 16.80 |
China | CNY=CFXS | -0.02 | -2.01 | .SSEC | -1.00 | 5.11 |
India | INR=IN | - | -0.09 | .NSEI | 0.31 | 4.31 |
Indonesia | IDR= | - | -3.72 | .JKSE | - | -0.69 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.42 | -2.55 | .KLSE | 0.37 | 11.93 |
Philippines | PHP= | -0.33 | -4.85 | .PSI | 0.33 | 2.77 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | -0.03 | -5.52 | .KS11 | 0.32 | 2.90 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.10 | -2.25 | .STI | 0.26 | 2.36 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | +0.12 | -4.65 | .TWII | 0.26 | 20.51 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.18 | -6.38 | .SETI | 0.13 | -3.05 |
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
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