By Upasana Singh
Feb 7 (Reuters) – The Malaysian ringgit led losses among Asian emerging currencies on Tuesday, as markets weighed hawkish signals from global central banks and considered the likelihood of further interest rate hikes.
The ringgit MYR=, which has gained 2.5% so far this year, weakened 0.8% to a more than two-week low. Indonesia’s rupiah IDR= fell 0.6% and the Philippine peso PHP= slipped 0.4%. Both currencies hit their lowest since Jan. 20.
In contrast, Thailand’s baht THB=TH rose 0.5% and the Singapore dollar SGD= inched 0.1% higher.
Annual inflation in the Philippines blew past expectations in January to reach a fresh 14-year high on surging food prices, raising the chance the central bank will deliver a bigger interest rate hike to tame prices when it meets next week.
“We believe Governor (Felipe M.) Medalla will whip out a 50bp (basis points) rate increase in an attempt to get ahead of surging inflation,” said Nicholas Mapa, senior economist with ING.
“Medalla previously sounded off on the possibility of pausing ‘as early as the first quarter’ but today’s inflation report likely means BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) will need to stay hawkish in the near term.”
Equities in Manila .PSI shed 0.1% on prospects of a larger rate hike.
Meanwhile, investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve chief’s speech at the Economic Club of Washington later in the day.
“All eyes will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments ahead, with the recent strength in the labour market seemingly opening the door for more hawkishness,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG.
“That said, sticking to his script at the recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting with not too many surprises could see risk sentiments recover, in line with the upward bias presented from the broader trend.”
The dollar index =USD, which hit a near one-month high of 103.76 on Monday, slipped 0.1% to 103.47 as of 0335 GMT.
Equities across Southeast Asia were largely subdued, with stocks in Jakarta .JKSE rising 0.8% and Seoul .KS11 shares up 0.6%. Stocks in Kuala Lumpur .KLSE declined 0.6% and Singapore’s benchmark index .STI eased 0.1%.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia will suspend some palm oil export permits to secure domestic supply amid rising cooking oil prices ahead of upcoming Islamic festivals
** Japan confirmed that it made record interventions in the foreign exchange market in October, selling the dollar worth 6.35 trillion yen ($48 billion) to support the yen
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the dollar at 0335 GMT.
COUNTRY
FX RIC
FX DAILY %
FX YTD %
INDEX
STOCKS DAILY %
STOCKS YTD %
Japan
JPY=
+0.26
-0.90
.N225
0.22
6.36
China
CNY=CFXS
+0.24
+1.73
.SSEC
0.21
5.06
India
INR=IN
+0.06
+0.06
.NSEI
0.00
-1.88
Indonesia
IDR=
-0.59
+2.81
.JKSE
0.75
1.09
Malaysia
MYR=
-0.84
+2.52
.KLSE
-0.59
-0.93
Philippines
PHP=
-0.37
+1.87
.PSI
-0.13
5.51
S.Korea
KRW=KFTC
-0.18
+0.76
.KS11
0.60
9.68
Singapore
SGD=
+0.09
+1.02
.STI
-0.07
4.06
Taiwan
TWD=TP
-0.17
+2.24
.TWII
0.04
8.93
Thailand
THB=TH
+0.54
+3.04
.SETI
0.24
1.04
(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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