* Asian FX logs mild gains * Thai baht, Singapore dollar only outlier * Equities edge higher By Roushni Nair Oct 17 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asia currencies steadied and share markets recovered ground on Tuesday after dovish comments from a senior U.S. Federal Reserve official, while investors watched for any risk of the war between Israel and Hamas leading to a wider conflict. The Malaysian ringgit, the Indian rupee, and the South Korean won inched up 0.1% by 0336 GMT. The Indonesian rupiah and the Philippines peso were largely unchanged. Equities across Southeast Asia traded higher as interest rate jitters eased globally after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said on Monday the central bank should not create new pressures in the economy by increasing the cost of borrowing. Market participants were keenly awaiting more speeches by central bankers this week, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, to gauge the outlook for monetary policy. Shares in Seoul and Manila advanced over 1%, while those in Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore added over 0.4% each. The U.S. dollar index, on the other hand, eased 0.05% to 106.3, after dropping 0.36% on Monday. Investors were also awaiting gross domestic product, retail sales, and industrial production, and other data from China, Southeast Asia's largest trading partner, due to be released on Wednesday. "While we expect near-term China economic data to remain soft, we should see the various stimulus measures and system liquidity feeding through to better Chinese growth moving through Q4 – this could support risk appetite more broadly and see traders move away from safe havens," Chris Weston, an analyst at Pepperstone said. The South Korean and Indonesian central banks are expected to leave interest rates unchanged when the they hold policy meetings on Thursday, according to Reuters polls. Bucking the trend in Asian markets on Tuesday, Thailand's baht retreated as much as 0.7%. The recent unprecedented rise in oil prices has increased the prospects of higher import bills for net-importing countries like Thailand and India, adding to inflationary woes. In India, the central bank's regular intervention is preventing the rupee from weakening past a record low of 83.29 per dollar hit in October last year, according to traders. The Singapore dollar also eased 0.1%, after the trade reliant island's exports fell for a 12th straight month in September. "We could likely see this trend persist for a bit longer due to still soft global demand which should in turn feed into soft GDP numbers," analysts at ING said in a note. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 1.5 basis points to 6.774% ** Bank of Korea to hold base rate on Oct. 19, rate cut call pushed to Q2 2024 - POLL Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0442 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD % % Japan -0.03 -12.3 1.14 24.52 2 ChinaIndia +0.06 -0.61 0.52 9.55 Indonesi -0.03 -0.99 0.33 1.00 a Malaysia +0.04 -7.02 0.24 -3.55 Philippi +0.04 -1.87 1.08 -4.58 nes S.Korea Singapor -0.09 -2.10 0.31 -2.39 e Taiwan -0.05 -4.92 0.11 17.91 Thailand -0.60 -5.14 0.54 -14.01 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Delayed 10:28:57 2024-04-28 pm EDT | 5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
1.072 USD | +0.08% | +0.55% | -2.89% |
04:39am | INDIA BONDS-Indian bond yields may dip at start of the week, focus on Fed decision | RE |
03:28am | Australian shares rise on banks, IT boost; Fed policy meet on tap | RE |
Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
|
Change
|
5d. change
|
Capi.
| ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,686 PTS | +0.86% | +2.29% | - | ||
1,382 KRW | +0.43% | +0.57% | - | ||
1,012 KRW | +0.53% | +1.30% | - | ||
907.1 KRW | +0.86% | +2.83% | - | ||
690.6 USD | +1.81% | +3.39% | - | ||
89.35 INR | +0.19% | +0.59% | - | ||
87.48 USD | -0.03% | +0.61% | - | ||
83.36 INR | -0.03% | +0.03% | - | ||
82.97 USD | -0.07% | +1.28% | - | ||
61.05 INR | +0.11% | +0.78% | - | ||
54.66 INR | +0.30% | +2.14% | - | ||
16.58 KRW | +0.44% | +0.43% | - | ||
7.246 CNY | +0.00% | +0.09% | - | ||
1.706 SGD | +0.20% | +1.21% | - | ||
1.46 SGD | +0.14% | +0.63% | - | ||
1.362 SGD | +0.08% | +0.08% | - | ||
1.252 USD | +0.12% | +1.20% | - | ||
1.072 USD | +0.08% | +0.55% | - | ||
0.7327 USD | +0.06% | +0.67% | - | ||
0.6564 USD | +0.34% | +2.18% | - | ||
0.5963 USD | +0.27% | +1.10% | - | ||
0.0163 SGD | +0.10% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.012 USD | +0.04% | 0.00% | - | ||
- PTS | -.--% | +1.02% | - | ||
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