* Thai baht top loser, weakens up to 0.9% * Malaysian central bank maintains policy rate as expected * Taiwan dollar hits over 7-month low * Russian rouble at lowest level since March 2022 By Nausheen Thusoo July 6 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies depreciated on Thursday, with the Thai baht dragging the most on rate hike bets from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting minutes, while the Malaysian ringgit was unfazed after an expected pause in the country's policy stance. The Thai baht depreciated 0.5% in a broad-based selloff, while the shares were down 1.1% as political uncertainty continued to weigh. On Wednesday, data showed annual headline inflation in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy unexpectedly rose in June, albeit at its slowest pace in 22 months. "With still no clarity around who will lead the next government and the recent concerns around the declining number of Chinese tourists going to Thailand, the baht is currently under pressure," said Khoon Goh, Head of Asia research at ANZ. The Malaysian ringgit, the worst performer in the region so far this year, hovered 0.1% lower after the country's central bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 3.0%, in tandem with the larger market expectations. However, Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX research at Maybank, believes the unchanged rate will subject the ringgit to "gyrations in the general market sentiment", adding that "some retracement or strength in the currency" is expected to emerge towards the end of 2023 and early 2024. Meanwhile, minutes of the Fed's June meeting released overnight showed the vast majority of policymakers expected further tightening in U.S. monetary policy, even as they agreed to hold interest rates steady last month. "The minutes offered no reason to doubt that the Fed will go ahead with another July hike unless data points firmly in the opposite direction on the economic and inflation side," analysts at ING markets wrote in a note. The Indonesian rupiah fell as much as 0.4%, hitting its lowest level since March 30, while the Taiwanese dollar weakened 0.3% to hit its lowest level in seven months. China's yuan firmed 0.1% after its central bank offered more reassurances to markets worried by the currency's recent sharp falls. Data on Wednesday showed services activity in the world's second-largest economy and the region's biggest trading partner expanded the slowest in five months in June, highlighting the weakening demand weighing on China's post-pandemic recovery momentum. "(Southeast Asia's) shift from China to other countries in terms of trade is not likely to put other Asian countries under pressure in the future," Goh said, referring to China's weak momentum. Equities in the region also slipped. Taiwan and Thailand fell over 1%, wile Singapore . and Philippines eased 0.6%. Elsewhere, the Russian rouble plunged as much as 5.3% to 94.5655 per dollar, its lowest level since late March last year. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Thai headline inflation at 22-month low, but c.bank may hike rate further ** Sri Lanka cuts key rates as expected; more cuts seen by year ** Singapore's central bank warned on Wednesday of weak near-term growth for one of Asia's top financial hubs Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0711 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.62 -8.79 <.N2 -1.70 25.72 25> ChinaEC> India -0.37 +0.23 <.NS 0.24 7.40 EI> Indonesi -0.27 +3.42 <.JK 0.18 -1.74 a SE> Malaysia -0.17 -5.54 <.KL -0.41 -7.44 SE> Philippi +0.07 +0.32 <.PS -0.59 -1.40 nes I> S.Korea 11> Singapor +0.06 -0.93 <.ST -0.99 -3.00 e I> Taiwan -0.30 -1.72 <.TW -1.73 18.56 II> Thailand -0.54 -1.44 <.SE -1.33 -10.78 TI> (Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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Price
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Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
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1.085 USD | -0.06% | +0.02% | - | ||
39.7 THB | +0.05% | +1.27% | - | ||
1.276 USD | -0.10% | +0.39% | - | ||
7.244 CNY | +0.01% | +0.14% | - | ||
88.57 RUB | -0.41% | -2.11% | - | ||
36.6 THB | +0.11% | +0.74% | - | ||
0.6648 USD | -0.11% | -0.27% | - | ||
0.012 USD | -0.03% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.7327 USD | -0.14% | -0.04% | - | ||
0.6139 USD | -0.20% | +0.54% | - | ||
7.262 CNH | +0.05% | +0.22% | - | ||
24.34 PTS | -0.02% | +0.28% | - | ||
773.5 USD | -0.02% | +3.66% | - | ||
2,768 PTS | +0.08% | +0.02% | - | ||
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