.
Thai baht, Taiwan dollar trade flat
Philippine peso, South Korean won emerge as outliers
Indonesian markets closed for public holiday
By Archishma Iyer
March 11 (Reuters) –Asian currencies struggled for direction onMonday while equities fell, with investors looking for clues on the outlook for inflation, while a mixed U.S. jobsreport pointed towards the possibility of a Federal Reserve ratecut in the coming months.
Monthly payrolls data from theworld’s largest economy late on Friday revealed an acceleration in jobs growth in February but also showed that unemployment reached a two-year high, boosting chances for arate cut in June.
Traders now await U.S. consumer price inflation (CPI) data, set to be announced late on Tuesday, in an otherwise light data week, with bets on a U.S. ratecut in June currently at about 73% according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from 64.3% last week.
The dollar index =USD, which measures the strength of the greenback against six major currencies, hoveredat 102.73, as of 0645 GMT.
In Asia, both the Thailand baht THB=TH and the Taiwan dollar TWD=TP reversed early losses to trade flat.
Other currencies, such as the Singapore dollar SGD=, Indian rupee INR=IN and the Malaysian ringgit MYR= tradedflat to marginally higher, with the ringgit not far from a 26-year low.
On the other hand, the South Korean won KRW=KFTC ended 0.7% higher, reaching a two-month peak, while the Philippine peso PHP= rose about 0.2%to hit a two-month high.
“External market drivers will continue to affect the (Asian) currencies. If the view on the Fed is maintained, and incoming data in the U.S. support the view further, Asian currencies would continue rising against USD,” Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp analystssaid in a note.
Elsewhere, China reported a rise in consumer prices for the first time in six months for February. This comes as Asia’s largest economy grapples with a protracted property crisis, crushing consumer sentiment and demand.
Among Asian shares, stocks in Manila .PSI, Singapore .STI, Seoul .KS11 and Mumbai .NSEI fell between 0.2% and 1.2%, even as Kuala Lumpur .KLSE firmed 0.3%.
Taiwan equities .TWII, which hit multiple record highs last week, spurred by enthusiasm in artificial intelligence stocks, took a breather during the day, slipping about 0.3%.
Indonesian markets were closed on Monday fora public holiday.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** South Korea urges Vietnam to give its companies tax incentives
** BOJ leaning toward exiting negative rates in March – sources
** China trying to ‘normalise’ military drills near Taiwan, island’s top security official says
|
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0645 GMT |
||||||
|
COUNTRY |
FX RIC |
FX DAILY % |
FX YTD % |
INDEX |
STOCKS DAILY % |
STOCKS YTD % |
|
Japan |
JPY= |
+0.09 |
-4.00 |
.N225 |
-2.19 |
16.00 |
|
China |
CNY=CFXS |
+0.04 |
-1.21 |
.SSEC |
0.46 |
2.86 |
|
India |
INR=IN |
+0.13 |
+0.64 |
.NSEI |
-0.45 |
3.04 |
|
Indonesia |
IDR= |
– |
-1.22 |
.JKSE |
– |
1.50 |
|
Malaysia |
MYR= |
0.00 |
-1.96 |
.KLSE |
0.29 |
6.17 |
|
Philippines |
PHP= |
+0.23 |
-0.09 |
.PSI |
-1.28 |
6.26 |
|
S.Korea |
KRW=KFTC |
+0.73 |
-1.70 |
.KS11 |
-0.77 |
0.17 |
|
Singapore |
SGD= |
+0.08 |
-0.84 |
.STI |
-0.25 |
-3.11 |
|
Taiwan |
TWD=TP |
+0.04 |
-2.20 |
.TWII |
-0.30 |
10.01 |
|
Thailand |
THB=TH |
-0.03 |
-3.46 |
.SETI |
-0.28 |
-2.36 |
Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sonia Cheema
