Emerging Markets: Singapore dollar jumps on surprise tightening; rupiah sinks as governor quits

United Overseas Bank

27/07/2026 08:46

Singapore's dollar gains against USD, CNY and MYR
City-state's central bank surprises with second straight tightening
Rupiah touches 18,000/dlr, BI governor announces surprise exit
Chinese chipmaker CXMT surges over sixfold
By Sneha  Kumar and Nikita Maria Jino
July 27 (Reuters) - The Singapore dollar gained ground after an unexpected policy tightening on Monday, while the Indonesian rupiah weakened to briefly touch the key 18,000-per-dollar mark after its central bank chief announced a surprise retirement. 
Emerging Asian equities advanced in the afternoon trade as crude prices tumbled after U.S.-Iran hostilities paused over the weekend. The MSCI EM Asia equities gauge .MIMS00000PUS rose nearly 1%, with stocks in South Korea .KS11 and Taiwan .TWII climbing as much as 2%.
Singapore's central bank unexpectedly raised the prevailing rate of appreciation of its exchange-rate-based policy band slightly, 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 to a record high with heavyweight banks -  DBS Group DBSM.SI, OCBC OCBC.SI and United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI - rising between 0.4% and 0.6%.
In Shanghai, chipmaker CXMT Corp 688825.SS surged more than six-fold on its debut to become China's most valuable listed company, surpassing lender ICBC 601398.SS.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah IDR= briefly fell to the crucial 18,000-per-U.S.-dollar level for the first time in seven sessions, while stocks .JKSE also slipped.
The moves came after Indonesia's central bank governor, Perry Warjiyo, stepped down with analysts warning the unexpected change 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 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 Treasury yields also crept lower.
"The equity picture tells the same cautious story. Asian markets are signalling that this is not a true risk-on move — it’s a relief rally that investors still don’t fully trust," said Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone.
"Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India all run heavy energy import bills — a durable peace deal eases current account pressure, cools inflation, and removes the need to defend currencies against dollar strength simultaneously."
Lingering AI-related concerns kept equities in South Korea and Taiwan in check.     
Stocks in Seoul 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.


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 0641 GMT
COUNTRY
FX RIC
FX DAILY %
FX YTD %
INDEX
STOCKS DAILY %
STOCKS YTD %
Japan
JPY=
+0.18
-4.22
.N225
0.54
29.03
China
CNY=CFXS
+0.04
+3.26
.SSEC
0.63
-3.29
India
INR=IN
+0.43
-6.53
.NSEI
0.86
-8.26
Indonesia
IDR=
-0.36
-7.39
.JKSE
-0.25
-28.52
Malaysia
MYR=
+0.15
-0.64
.KLSE
0.95
2.21
Philippines
PHP=
-0.07
-4.71
.PSI
0.51
4.29
S.Korea
KRW=KFTC
-0.68
-1.97
.KS11
0.97
60.31
Singapore
SGD=
+0.05
-0.30
.STI
0.39
20.74
Taiwan
TWD=TP
+0.18
-2.67
.TWII
-0.05
50.65
Thailand
THB=
+0.48
-6.18
.SETI
-0.72
29.60
 

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