By Sameer Manekar
Dec 22 (Reuters) – The Indonesian rupiah hit a near five-week high on Wednesday as risk appetite returned to financial markets, while other Asian emerging currencies were largely mixed as the Omicron COVID-19 variant continued to cloud the outlook for economic recovery.
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC firmed by up to 0.3% after softening for two straight days, and the Malaysian ringgit MYR= and Singapore dollar SGD= posted small gains, while the Philippine peso PHP= and Thai baht THB=TH each fell 0.2%.
Indonesia’s rupiah IDR=, one of the most risk-sensitive currencies in the region, strengthened more than 0.5% to touch 14,230 per dollar, its highest level since mid-November. Ten-year benchmark yields ID10YT=RR were largely flat, but hovered around their two-week high levels.
“In Asia, most currencies including rupiah, ringgit, Singapore dollar, China’s yuan and Indian rupee benefited from a return in risk appetite,” analysts at Mizuho Bank said.
Analysts at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group expect the rupiah to weather the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy normalisation, assuming no material impact from the Omicron variant. They expect the currency to reach 14,000 per dollar by end-2022.
Elsewhere, the Thai baht THB=TH remained under pressure ahead of a central bank policy decision later in the day. The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is expected to hold interest rates at a record low to bolster the tourism-dependent economy, according to a Reuters poll.
The BoT is under no pressure to remove its accommodative policy stance considering the fragile recovery which has taken hold so far in 2021, and may remain as tentative into 2022, Mizuho Bank analysts said in a note.
Meanwhile, Thailand approved a new package of economic stimulus measures, including tax breaks for shoppers, in a bid to revive its economy, grappling with the pandemic-induced collapse of its vital tourism sector.
Asian markets elsewhere gained ground as investors picked up riskier assets, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gaining 0.6% after an upbeat overnight Wall Street session.
The U.S. dollar index =USD, which measures the currency against major peers, was last at 96.516, down from as high as 96.994 last week, as investors favoured riskier currencies and asset classes. USD/
All regional equities logged modest gains, with top gainer Thai shares .SETI up 0.6% ahead of the central bank decision, while Malaysia .KLSE, the Philippines .PSI Singapore .STI and Indonesia .JKSE added about 0.5% each.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields edge lower to 6.412%
** Indonesia stock exchange warns it may delist airline Garuda GIAA.JK
** India’s Zee Entertainment approves merger with Sony 6758.T unit –
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0327 GMT
COUNTRY
FX RIC
FX DAILY %
FX YTD %
INDEX
STOCKS DAILY %
STOCKS YTD %
Japan
JPY=
-0.01
-9.51
.N225
0.11
4.03
China
CNY=CFXS
-0.01
+2.45
.SSEC
0.02
4.40
India
INR=IN
0.00
-3.35
.NSEI
0.00
19.95
Indonesia
IDR=
+0.36
-1.56
.JKSE
0.26
9.91
Malaysia
MYR=
+0.02
-4.42
.KLSE
0.38
-7.93
Philippines
PHP=
-0.24
-4.08
.PSI
0.12
0.51
S.Korea
KRW=KFTC
+0.14
-8.81
.KS11
0.23
3.77
Singapore
SGD=
-0.02
-3.18
.STI
0.10
8.60
Taiwan
TWD=TP
+0.02
+2.39
.TWII
0.26
21.06
Thailand
THB=TH
-0.21
-11.20
.SETI
0.51
12.50
Indonesian rupiahhttps://tmsnrt.rs/3FkNPq2
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
(([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))
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