* Most Asian currencies set for weekly losses * Dollar index pares some gains * Investors wary as yuan stays near 2007 lows By Archishma Iyer Sept 8 (Reuters) - Asian equities were mostly in the red while currencies logged some gains on Friday, as markets stayed risk averse following strong economic data from the United States and continued uncertainty in China. Most Asian currencies, however, were set to mark weekly losses due to a resilient U.S. dollar, with the Thai baht poised for its worst week since the beginning of August. The South Korean won was also likely to post its worst week since Aug. 15, having lost about 1.1% for the week. An uptick in services sector activity in the U.S, lower filing of jobless claims during the week, along with dim economic data across Europe and Britain had boosted the safe-haven U.S currency to a near six-month high. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against six major rivals pulled back to trade at 104.88 at 0425 GMT, not far from its previous high of 105.15 As a result, some Asian currencies rose on the day, with the Philippines peso climbing 0.2%, while the Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht rose between 0.1% and 0.2% higher. "For the Singapore dollar and Thai baht, whilst they have opened stronger, I wouldn't say that gains are significant," Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ, said. "I think that's just reflecting the fact that those currencies have actually weakened quite significantly so far this month. So part of these gains likely just reflects some positioning changes." Investors also kept a keen eye on the Chinese yuan, after poor economic data from Asia's largest economy provided more evidence its post-pandemic recovery is faltering. The Chinese currency was trading at 7.348 per dollar at 0425 GMT, perched at its lowest in about 16 years and also set to mark its sixth consecutive session of losses. "The stubborn absence of durable China optimism despite less bad than expected trade data and property boost measures suggest a long China shadow," Vishnu Varathan, head, economics & strategy, Asia & Oceania Treasury department at Mizuho Bank, said. The Taiwan dollar fell about 0.1% in tandem with the yuan, while the Indonesian rupiah slipped about the same amount. Meanwhile, shares in Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia were down in a range of 0.2% and 0.6%. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesia's benchmark 10-year bond yield rises to 6.576% ** Thai economy may grow as forecast this year - deputy finmin ** Philippines posts $4.2 bln trade deficit in July Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0425 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % % DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.05 -10.94 -1.28 24.81 ChinaIndia +0.05 -0.54 0.31 9.30 Indonesia -0.13 +1.47 -0.52 0.99 Malaysia +0.06 -5.86 -0.27 -2.63 Philippines +0.21 -1.75 -0.08 -5.91 S.Korea Singapore +0.15 -1.74 -0.40 -1.16 Taiwan -0.11 -4.13 -0.15 17.38 Thailand +0.20 -2.74 0.04 -7.05 (Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Delayed 04:59:59 2024-04-26 pm EDT | 5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
7.267 CNH | 0.00% | +0.26% | +2.05% |
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Stocks mentioned in the article
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Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
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2,686 PTS | +0.86% | +2.29% | - | ||
1,376 KRW | +0.41% | +0.15% | - | ||
1,007 KRW | 0.00% | +0.71% | - | ||
899.3 KRW | +0.57% | +1.92% | - | ||
690.6 USD | +1.81% | +3.39% | - | ||
21.27 TWD | 0.00% | +1.96% | - | ||
16.51 KRW | 0.00% | +0.10% | - | ||
9.052 CNY | 0.00% | +1.06% | - | ||
7.747 CNY | -0.24% | +0.44% | - | ||
7.267 CNH | 0.00% | +0.26% | - | ||
7.246 CNY | +0.10% | +0.08% | - | ||
5.3 CNY | 0.00% | +0.65% | - | ||
4.733 CNY | 0.00% | +1.89% | - | ||
1.701 SGD | +0.09% | +1.06% | - | ||
1.457 SGD | +0.02% | +0.46% | - | ||
1.362 SGD | 0.00% | +0.08% | - | ||
1.249 USD | -0.12% | +0.99% | - | ||
1.069 USD | -0.32% | +0.37% | - | ||
0.731 USD | 0.00% | +0.56% | - | ||
0.5938 USD | 0.00% | +0.88% | - | ||
0.0869 CNY | 0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.0163 SGD | 0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.012 USD | 0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
- PTS | -.--% | +1.02% | - | ||
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