Emerging Markets: South Korea, Taiwan stocks decline; Philippines c.bank in focus

LG

27/06/2024 06:10

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      Most Asian currencies largely unchanged
    

        * 
      Philippine c.bank to hold rates - Reuters poll
    

        * 
      S. Korea to extend dollar-won onshore trading hours
    

  
    By Roshan Thomas
       June 27 (Reuters) - South Korean shares lost more than
1% on Thursday to mark their worst day in more than two weeks
after U.S. chipmaker Micron's forecast for the current quarter
disappointed investors, while the market was waiting for a rate
decision in the Philippines.
        Currencies in the region were largely subdued, with the
Indonesian rupiah  IDR=  and the Malaysian ringgit  MYR= 
slightly lower, as the dollar  =USD  lingered near a two-month
high ahead of key inflation data due later in the week.
    A strong print would push back interest rate cut
expectations, supporting the dollar and pressuring emerging
market assets.
    Stocks in Taiwan  .TWII , which soared last week in tandem
with their U.S. peers riding on the Nvidia wave, fell as much as
1%, with chipmaking giant TSMC down more than 1%.
    Equities in Seoul  .KS11  dropped 1.1% for the worst
intraday fall since June 10, as investors assessed the outlook
for semiconductor demand from artificial intelligence
technologies after Micron's outlook update raised concerns.
    SK Hynix, a Micron rival and Nvidia supplier, fell near
1.1%.
    South Korea also said it would extend dollar-won onshore
market's trading hours from Monday to enhance foreign investor
access and support the inclusion of government bonds in a major
global index.
    In the Philippines, investors await a monetary policy
decision from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which is
expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged, according to a
Reuters poll.
    "We expect BSP to stand pat at this meeting, given building
inflation pressures and ongoing PHP weakness. A decidedly dovish
BSP could lead to PHP falling as low as 60 against the US
dollar", analysts at MUFG said in a client note.
    The peso  PHP=  was trading flat at 58.90 per dollar - near
a more than two-year low - while shares  .PSI  ticked higher.
The peso has lost nearly 6% so far in the first half of 2024,
making it one of the worst performing currencies in the region.
    Elsewhere, Chinese stocks  .SSEC  lost 0.7% and those in
Thailand  .SETI  lost 0.5%. In contrast, equities in Indonesia
 .JKSE  and Singapore  .STI  were up 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.
    As the first half of 2024 draws to a close, most Southeast
Asian currencies are deep in the negative territory, with the
Thai baht  THB=TH  and the Indonesian rupiah emerging as the
worst performers.
    "Investors are constantly on the lookout for better returns
on their investments," said Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief
economist at the Union Bank of Philippines. 
    "With the U.S. Fed projecting to potentially cut
lesser-than-expected for this year, one would expect investment
value slanting toward USD-denominated investments."
          
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields tick higher to 7.139%
    ** Japan finance minister says concerned over weak yen
impact on economy
    ** China's industrial profits growth slows sharply in May
amid patchy recovery
    ** Sri Lanka inks debt deal with creditor nations, including
China
    
 Asia stock                                                                    
 indexes and                                                                   
 currencies                                                                    
 at 0430 GMT                                                                   
 COUNTRY      FX          FX            FX          INDEX    STOCKS            STOCKS
                RIC         DAILY %       YTD %                DAILY %           YTD %
 Japan         JPY=       +0.26         -12.04       .N225   -1.04             17.32
 China         CNY=CFXS   -0.03         -2.35        .SSEC   -0.51             -0.59
 India         INR=IN     +0.08         -0.36        .NSEI   -0.02             9.81
 Indonesia     IDR=       -0.15         -6.27        .JKSE   0.77              -4.32
 Malaysia      MYR=       -0.15         -2.69        .KLSE   -0.37             8.97
 Philippines   PHP=       +0.03         -5.93        .PSI    0.08              -2.05
 S.Korea       KRW=KFTC   -0.01         -7.26        .KS11   -0.44             4.69
 Singapore     SGD=       +0.12         -2.76        .STI    0.27              3.10
 Taiwan        TWD=TP     -0.02         -5.61        .TWII   -0.34             27.75
 Thailand      THB=TH     +0.01         -7.45        .SETI   -0.50             -7.30
 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic: World FX rates     https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets    https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
 ((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))