Emerging Markets: Asian equities track Wall Street up but China threat remains

Sats

27/07/2021 08:28

* Investors eye Fed meeting ending on Wednesday
    * South Korea posts decade-high GDP growth in Q2
    * Philippine stocks rebound from Monday's slide

    By Harish Sridharan
    July 27 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian equities rose slightly on
Tuesday, tracking Wall Street's strong gains overnight, while
concerns surrounding tighter Chinese regulation persisted ahead
of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
    Philippine shares  .PSI  stood out as Manila's benchmark
index rose 2.4% in its best day since June 2 after shedding more
than 3% over the previous two sessions.
    Shanghai stocks  .SSEC  dropped 2.5%, extending their heavy
losses into a third session as worries over the impact of
stricter government oversight of the private education sector
soured sentiment.  .SS 
    "Investors in China are unclear on how to cope with the
uncertain regulatory environment, which is causing nervousness
in the Chinese equity markets," said Sim Moh Siong, a FX
strategist at Bank of Singapore.  
    "The question about spillover (from China) is still lurking
in the background."
    Major U.S. stock indexes eked out record closing highs for a
second straight session, finding some stability after days of
turbulence, as investors were optimistic ahead of earnings from
heavyweight technology and internet names this week.  .N 
    Meanwhile, the won  KRW=KFC  firmed 0.4% to be among the
best performers in the region, while Seoul stocks  .KS11 
advanced after data showed the country's economy expanded at its
fastest annual pace in a decade in the second quarter.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P204Z
    Malaysia  .KLSE  and Singapore  .STI  equities added 0.1%,
while Thai  .SETI  and Indonesian stocks  .JKSE  dipped. 
    Asian currencies were quite mixed, with the peso  PHP= ,
rupiah  IDR=  and Malaysian ringgit  MYR=  trading flat to 0.1%
lower, as the near-term economic outlook for several countries
remained cloudy due to surging coronavirus cases.
    Thailand on Monday reported record high COVID-19 infections
for a second consecutive day, while neighbouring Malaysia also
remains under a stringent lockdown.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P20GY
    The focus is now on the U.S Federal Reserve's policy
meeting, which culminates on Wednesday, as investors look for
clues on the central bank's stance on monetary policy and the
timeline to pare back stimulus.
 
    Highlights
    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields up 1.5 basis points
at 6.33%
    ** In the Philippines, top index gainer was International
Container Terminal Services Inc  ICT.PS , up 5.78%
    ** Top gainer on the Singapore STI  .STI  was SATS Ltd
 SATS.SI , up 2.03%
    
  Asia stock indexes and                              
 currencies at   0718 GMT                        
 COUNTRY  FX RIC        FX     FX  INDE  STOCKS  STOCK
                     DAILY  YTD %     X   DAILY  S YTD
                         %                    %      %
 Japan     JPY=      +0.23  -6.22  <.N2   0.49    1.92
                                   25>           
 China                           EC>           
 India     INR=IN    -0.07  -1.89  <.NS   -0.17  12.98
                                   EI>           
 Indones   IDR=      -0.03  -3.07  <.JK   -0.38   1.74
 ia                                SE>           
 Malaysi   MYR=      +0.00  -4.96  <.KL    0.13  -6.93
 a                                 SE>           
 Philipp   PHP=      -0.06  -4.63  <.PS    2.35  -8.64
 ines                              I>            
 S.Korea                         11>           
 Singapo   SGD=      -0.25  -2.99  <.ST    0.09  10.48
 re                                I>            
 Taiwan    TWD=TP    +0.09  +1.56  <.TW   -0.77  17.22
                                   II>           
 Thailan   THB=TH    -0.21  -9.13  <.SE   -0.19   6.40
 d                                 TI>           
 

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic: World FX rates     https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets    https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Southeast Asia stocks in July    https://tmsnrt.rs/2UEXANF
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((Harish.Sridharan@thomsonreuters.com;))