* S.Korean won, Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah rise over 1%
each
* Philippine stocks hit highest since late Sept
* Taiwan, Philippine policy meetings in focus
By John Biju
Dec 14 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies and
equities joined a rally in global markets on Thursday, after the
U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that its tightening cycle is
likely over and flagged rate cuts next year, bolstering investor
appetite for riskier assets.
South Korea's won, Thailand's baht, and
Indonesia's rupiah rose more than 1% each. The Malaysian
ringgit advanced 0.9%.
Stocks in South Korea and Thailand jumped
more than 1% each.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the historic
monetary tightening is likely over as inflation falls faster
than expected, with a discussion of cuts in borrowing costs
coming "into view."
Markets are now pricing in around a 75% chance of a rate cut
in March, according to CME FedWatch tool, compared with 54% a
week earlier.
With expectations of lower U.S. yields, the rate
differential between U.S. and Asia rates will narrow, benefiting
higher yielding Asian currencies, according to Ray Sharma-Ong,
investment director of multi-asset at fund manager abrdn.
"We expect currencies such as KRW, TWD and THB" to perform
well, he said, referring to the South Korean won, Taiwan dollar
and Thai baht. "We also expect Asia equity markets to improve as
U.S. growth moderates while Asia growth remains resilient."
The Philippine peso jumped 0.8% and stocks
climbed 2.2% to its highest level since late-September ahead of
a policy decision from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),
which is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
The country's central bank had said last week that it was
necessary to keep monetary policy settings "sufficiently tight",
despite easing inflation in November, highlighting its wariness
on price pressures.
"One factor that could be supportive for PHP, however, would
be BSP's consistent hawkish commentary. A rate hike by the BSP
at a time of global easing could be one reason we would see PHP
appreciate more aggressively than our baseline forecast,"
Nicholas Mapa, senior economist, at ING in the Philippines
wrote.
The Taiwanese central bank is also expected to leave policy
rates unchanged later on Thursday. The Taiwan dollar
advanced 0.9% while equities climbed 0.8%.
Investors in emerging Asian assets also kept watch on
developments in Argentina where its government allowed its peso
to plunge over 50%, cut energy subsidies and cancel public works
tenders as part of an economic shock therapy aimed at fixing the
South American country's worst crisis in decades.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Thailand's 10-year benchmark yields fall 5
basis points to 2.78%
** Japan PM overhauls cabinet in bid to weather financial
scandal
** Hong Kong central bank leaves interest rate unchanged,
tracks Fed
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0343 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % X S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan +1.32 -7.03 <.N2 -0.98 24.95
25>
China EC>
India +0.16 -0.66 <.NS 0.00 15.58
EI>
Indones +1.07 +0.48 <.JK 0.64 3.94
ia SE>
Malaysi +0.94 -5.58 <.KL 0.39 -2.79
a SE>
Philipp +0.75 +0.04 <.PS 2.19 -2.64
ines I>
S.Korea +1.81 -2.53 <.KS 1.09 13.49
11>
Singapo +0.38 +0.90 <.ST 0.83 -3.73
re I>
Taiwan +0.85 -1.77 <.TW 0.75 24.49
II>
Thailan +1.80 -1.44 <.SE 1.13 -17.7
d TI> 0
(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
