Emerging Markets: Singapore's dollar gains on surprise tightening, rupiah slips on governor exit

United Overseas Bank

27/07/2026 06:21

.
Singapore's dollar gains against USD, CNY and MYR
MAS surprises with second straight tightening of policy settings
Rupiah touches 18,000/dlr, BI governor announces surprise exit
Chinese chipmaker CXMT surges nearly six-fold in Asia's largest IPO
By Sneha  Kumar
July 27 (Reuters) - Singapore's dollar crept higher on Monday after the city-state's central bank unexpectedly tightened its monetary policy, while the Indonesian rupiah slipped and briefly touched the 18,000/dollar level after the central bank governor announced his surprise retirement.
Equities in emerging Asia drifted sideways, even as oil prices fell on reports of a pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities. The MSCI EM Asia equities gauge .MIMS00000PUS traded flat, with stocks in South Korea .KS11 and Taiwan .TWII inching lower.
Singapore's monetary policy authority unexpectedly raised the prevailing rate of appreciation of its exchange rate-based policy band slightly, smaller than its tightening in April, citing inflationary risks from the Middle East conflict.
That sent the Singapore dollar to seven-session highs against the U.S. dollar SGD= and the Chinese yuan SGDCNY=R and a one-month high against the Malaysian ringgit SGDMYR=R.
Equities in Singapore rose, with the benchmark FTSE Straits Times .STI advancing slightly to a record high. DBS Group DBSM.SI, OCBC OCBC.SI and United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI edged higher.
Indonesia's rupiah IDR= briefly touched 18,000 per U.S. dollar for the first time in seven sessions, while stocks .JKSE slipped, reversing early gains.
Indonesia's central bank governor, Perry Warjiyo, stepped down in a surprise move that analysts said could rattle investors worried about the central bank's independence and the country's fiscal management.
Globally, hopes for a diplomatic end to the Middle East crisis grew over the weekend as hostilities paused, offering a potential reprieve from elevated energy costs. 
Oil slipped to as low as $89.58 a barrel, while the U.S. dollar and Treasuries also crept lower.
"Asian markets have reacted largely positively on a decline in oil prices and bond yields, as US-Iran tensions may ease in the near term," said Grace Tam, Deputy CIO Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management.
"That said, the Middle East situation remains very fragile and volatility could come back any time."
Lingering AI-related concerns kept South Korean and Taiwan stocks under pressure. South Korean equities were down 0.5% after shedding as much as 1.1% earlier, while Taiwan stocks were 1% lower.
Seoul stocks shed nearly 2% last week on renewed fears that slow returns on massive U.S. tech AI investments could weaken demand for memory chips, with excessive volatility from investment in leveraged ETFs further weighing on chip stocks.
In Shanghai, chipmaker CXMT Corp 688825.SS surged nearly six-fold on its debut to become China's most valuable listed company, surpassing lender ICBC 601398.SS.


HIGHLIGHTS:
** Spread between Indonesia's 1-year ID1YT=RR and 10-year bond ID10YT=RR yields at 39.6 basis points, narrowest since June 22
** South Korea's Naver jumps 10% on Nvidia's $1 billion investment plan
** Malaysia's resource anxiety tests Asia's fastest data centre build-out
** Malaysia's stocks .KLSE add 1%


Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0448 GMT
COUNTRY
FX
  RIC
FX
  DAILY %
FX
  YTD %
INDEX
STOCKS
  DAILY %
STOCKS
  YTD %
Japan
JPY=
+0.17
-4.22
.N225
-0.1
24.54
China
CNY=CFXS
+0.02
+3.24
.SSEC
0.40
-3.51
India
INR=IN
+0.35
-6.61
.NSEI
0.68
-8.43
Indonesia
IDR=
-0.31
-7.34
.JKSE
-0.36
-28.59
Malaysia
MYR=
+0.12
-0.66
.KLSE
0.95
2.21
Philippines
PHP=
-0.06
-4.70
.PSI
0.79
4.58
S.Korea
KRW=KFTC
-0.57
-1.87
.KS11
-0.14
58.54
Singapore
SGD=
+0.02
-0.34
.STI
0.22
20.54
Taiwan
TWD=TP
-0.11
-2.95
.TWII
-0.68
49.69
Thailand
THB=TH
+0.45
-6.20
.SETI
-0.68
29.66


 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((Sneha.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))