Emerging Markets: Rising coronavirus cases send Asian equities, FX lower

Sats

21/04/2021 08:44

* Asian currencies weaker as dollar firms on safe-haven
flows
    * Singapore stocks hit lowest in four weeks
    * South Korea stocks mark worst day in nearly 2 months

    By Harish Sridharan
    April 21 (Reuters) - Asian stocks and currencies fell on
Wednesday as renewed concerns over India's mounting coronavirus
crisis and a global spike in COVID-19 cases raised questions
over the pace and strength of a global economic recovery.
    Equity markets in export-focused countries such as Singapore
 .STI  and South Korea  .KS11  took the biggest hit in the
region as riskier assets came under pressure globally.
    The dollar  =USD  benefited from safe-haven demand
overnight, weighing on most Asian currencies, while a negative
lead from Wall Street didn't help either.
    "We are likely to see modest amount of equity outflows in
the region at this point in time," said Chang Wei Liang,
macro-strategist at DBS Bank.
    However, he did not expect too much volatility to be
transmitted to Asian currencies, unless there was a more
significant downswing in equities, which he said looked
unlikely.
    India reported its worst daily death toll on Tuesday, as the
world's second most populous country's stretched healthcare
system struggles to cope with the pandemic's sweeping impact and
imposition of curbs in major cities.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MD06P
    Indian currency and equity markets, which were shut for a
local holiday, could be in for a torrid reception when they
re-open on Thursday. 
    Singapore stocks fell as much as 1.5% earlier in the session
to hit a four-week low, while South Korean shares closed 1.5%
lower and marked its worst day since Feb. 26.
    South Korean data earlier in the day showed the country's
exports during the first 20 days of April jumped 45.4% from a
year earlier, but that did little to lift sentiment in the face
of an uncertain global trade outlook. 
    The Indonesian rupiah  IDR=  was off 0.3% even as the
country's central bank stood pat on interest rates on Tuesday
and pledged its commitment to keep the rupiah currency stable.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MC0AX

Highlights
    
    ** Top losers on the Singapore STI  .STI  was SATS Ltd
 SATS.SI , down 3.13%
    ** Among the heavyweights in South Korea, SK Hynix
 000660.KS  fell 3.25%,
    ** Djasa Ubersakti Tbk PT  PTDU.JK  fell 6.98% and was among
the top losers on the Jakarta stock index  .JKSE 

  Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0707                        
 GMT                                                          
 COUNTRY      FX RIC      FX DAILY %  FX YTD %  INDE  STOCKS  STOCK
                                                   X   DAILY  S YTD
                                                           %      %
 Japan         JPY=            +0.03     -4.45  <.N2   -2.03   3.88
                                                25>           
 China         CNY=CFXS        +0.08     +0.50  <.SS    0.02   0.01
                                                EC>           
 Indonesia     IDR=            -0.28     -3.41  <.JK   -0.48   0.51
                                                SE>           
 Malaysia      MYR=            -0.06     -2.32  <.KL   -0.37  -1.57
                                                SE>           
 Philippines   PHP=            -0.04     -0.79  <.PS   -0.94  -9.81
                                                I>            
 S.Korea       KRW=KFTC        -0.56     -2.90  <.KS   -1.52  10.38
                                                11>           
 Singapore     SGD=            +0.01     -0.59  <.ST   -1.21  10.89
                                                I>            
 Taiwan        TWD=TP          +0.01     +1.24  <.TW   -0.70  16.76
                                                II>           
 Thailand      THB=TH          -0.10     -4.28  <.SE   -0.01   9.01
                                                TI>           
 























 (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shailesh Kuber)
 ((Harish.Sridharan@thomsonreuters.com;))