* Indonesian rupiah and stocks fall 0.6% each
* Philippine, Taiwan policy meetings due Thursday
* U.S. CPI, Fed meeting in focus
By John Biju
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Asian emerging currencies and
equities fell on Monday ahead of key central bank meetings
during the week, with the U.S. inflation reading and the Federal
Reserve's last policy meeting for the year in the limelight.
The Indonesian rupiah fell 0.6%, with the Taiwanese
dollar and the Philippine peso retreating 0.5%
and 0.2%, respectively.
Data from Thailand, Philippines and South Korea last week
showed that inflation eased in November, likely providing
central banks a little breathing room in terms of rates.
The Philippine central bank, however, cautioned it was
necessary to keep monetary policy settings "sufficiently tight".
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) monetary policy decision
is due on Thursday.
The Taiwanese central bank is also expected to leave its
policy rate unchanged on Thursday, according to a Reuters poll.
"I expect most Asian central banks to maintain their policy
rate at the current levels..." Poon Panichpibool, markets
strategist at Krung Thai Bank said.
However, he added that if China's economic recovery turns
"much worse than expected, most Asian central banks could decide
to lower policy rate from the current level as well and the
magnitude of rate cuts would depend on the severity of China's
economic downturn."
The week could be quite volatile for most asset classes
especially foreign exchange, and it depends on the Fed's
economic outlook and its monetary policy stance, Panichpibool
added.
The Fed is expected to keep rates in the current 5.25%-5.50%
range in its monetary policy decision later this week, leaving
policy on hold since July.
U.S. inflation data for November is due on Tuesday, with the
market expecting consumer prices to continue easing on an annual
basis.
Data showed last week U.S. job growth accelerated in
November, causing traders to reevaluate expectations of Fed rate
cuts early next year.
Back in Asia, the Chinese yuan retreated 0.2%
while equities slid 0.6% after data showed persistent
deflationary pressures in the Southeast Asia's largest trading
partner, increasing concerns over its economic recovery.
Equities in Philippines and Singapore
retreated 0.8%.
Indonesian equities declined 0.6%, with shares of
GoTo Gojek Tokopedia falling nearly 13% after it
announced that China's TikTok will invest $1.5 billion to become
controlling shareholder of an e-commerce unit of GoTo.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yield rises 1.3
basis points to 6.601%
** China proposes trading cost cuts for mutual funds, to
regulate commissions
** Philippines eyes constitutional amendments to ease
economic restrictions
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0403 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % X S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan -0.38 -9.88 <.N2 1.38 25.52
25>
China EC>
India +0.01 -0.79 <.NS 0.09 15.93
EI>
Indones -0.64 -0.26 <.JK -0.57 3.91
ia SE>
Malaysi -0.38 -5.98 <.KL -0.03 -3.61
a SE>
Philipp -0.20 +0.22 <.PS -0.83 -5.84
ines I>
S.Korea -0.19 -4.40 <.KS -0.07 12.50
11>
Singapo -0.08 -0.23 <.ST -0.76 -5.05
re I>
Taiwan -0.47 -2.59 <.TW 0.14 23.13
II>
Thailan - -2.14 <.SE - -17.2
d TI> 4
(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman)
