* Taiwan dollar sees worst month since Sept 2022 * Most Asian currencies fall during day * Philippines stocks hit eight-month high By Archishma Iyer Jan 31 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies were headed towards multi-month lows on Wednesday, after bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would not slash interest rates sooner than expected solidified due to resilient economic data from the world's largest economy. The Taiwan dollar was poised for its worst month since September 2022, while the Malaysian ringgit was set for its worst month since May 2023. The South Korean won and the Philippines peso were on track for their worst month since August last year. Investors globally have pared back their expectations that the U.S. central bank will cut benchmark policy rates in March, with the first rate cut now forecast to occur at the April 30-May 1 meeting. Market participants are awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee's decision later on Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to stand pat on its rates. "While conditions could be almost optimal for the Fed to start normalizing policy, growth still seems a tad too strong for the Fed start paving the way towards that decision from today," Maybank analysts wrote. On the day, the South Korean won and the Taiwan dollar depreciated the most, slipping about 0.4% each, while the Indonesian rupiah and Thailand's baht slipped about 0.2% and 0.3%. South Korea and Indonesia are set to reveal inflation data later in the week. Barclays analysts forecast price pressures in both countries to edge lower. Markets in China were weighed down by weak manufacturing activity in the region's largest economy that reinforced the need for additional stimulus measures to boost growth. The Philippines peso edged marginally higher and stocks in Manila rose as much as 1.5% to hit a eight-month high, emerging as one of the best-performing indexes on a year-to-date basis, even as the archipelago nation's economic growth missed its full-year target after the economy lost some steam in the last quarter of the year. Analysts from Capital Economics expect resilience in the Philippines' economy to fade, as credit growth has come off the boil and should feed through to lower domestic demand growth in the coming quarters. Among other Asian equities, stocks in Bangkok, Seoul and Taipei fell between 0.3% and 0.7%. Shares in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were 0.2% higher and flat respectively, even as the latter clocked in a 4% gain on a year-to-date basis. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesia's benchmark 10-year bond yield falls to 6.590% ** Indonesia c.bank eyes room for rate cut in H2, focus on stability in 2024 - governor ** Thai December factory output drops 6.27% y/y, more than forecast Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0427 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % % DAILY YTD % % Japan -0.05 -4.48 -0.17 7.58 China -0.04 -1.17 -0.37 -5.21 India -0.01 +0.11 0.17 -0.80 Indonesia -0.13 -2.54 0.24 -0.87 Malaysia -0.06 -2.92 0.03 4.03 Philippines +0.07 -1.69 1.26 3.96 S.Korea -0.40 -3.50 -0.28 -6.16 Singapore -0.11 -1.60 0.00 -2.79 Taiwan -0.37 -1.74 -0.75 -0.18 Thailand -0.27 -3.62 -0.52 -3.52 (Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
MSCI TAIWAN (STRD)
Index
End-of-day quote MSCI 10:00:00 2024-04-26 am EDT | 5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
690.6 USD | +1.81% | -2.01% | +8.11% |
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Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
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Change
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5d. change
|
Capi.
| ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,686 PTS | +0.86% | +0.34% | - | ||
1,376 KRW | +0.41% | -0.09% | - | ||
1,007 KRW | 0.00% | +0.64% | - | ||
899.3 KRW | +0.57% | +1.68% | - | ||
690.6 USD | +1.81% | -2.01% | - | ||
204.4 GBX | +0.17% | +9.96% | 38.15B | ||
21.27 TWD | 0.00% | +2.28% | - | ||
16.51 KRW | 0.00% | +0.07% | - | ||
1.249 USD | -0.12% | +0.47% | - | ||
1.069 USD | -0.32% | +0.46% | - | ||
0.731 USD | 0.00% | +0.56% | - | ||
0.6532 USD | 0.00% | +1.81% | - | ||
0.5938 USD | 0.00% | +0.88% | - | ||
0.012 USD | 0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
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