* All Asian FX trading higher * Rupiah hits over 8-week high * U.S. dollar at over 2-month low * Equities largely up By Roushni Nair Nov 20 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian currencies rose on Monday, with the Indonesian rupiah and South Korean won leading the charge, as prospects of a potential end to U.S. interest rate hikes led to weakness in the greenback. The South Korean won advanced as much as 0.9%, and the unit is trading at its highest level since Aug. 1. The Indonesian rupiah and Taiwanese dollar strengthened as much as 0.6% each, the rupiah marking its highest level since Sept. 22. The U.S. dollar has lost steam, giving up gains it made earlier this year as the steep decline in U.S. Treasury yields since the start of November continued following economic data that suggested inflation is cooling, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve is near the end of its rate-hiking cycle. Meanwhile, minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting held on Nov. 1 to be released on Tuesday will offer some color on policymakers' thinking as they held rates steady for a second time. The next policy meeting will be held on Dec. 12-13. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.21% to 103.62 by 0454 GMT. "Until we get some more data underscoring the U.S. economy's resilience, the dollar is likely to remain vulnerable. EM and other risk assets should perform well near-term," Win Thin, Global Head of Currency Strategy at BBH Global said in a note. Even as market reaction has been limited, there were unconfirmed media reports Israel, the United States and Hamas had reached a tentative agreement to free dozens of hostages in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting. Back in Asia, the Chinese yuan advanced more than 0.5% as the unit was nudged higher by the central bank. China left benchmark lending rates unchanged at a monthly fixing, matching expectations, as a weaker yuan continued to limit further monetary easing. The Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar appreciated over 0.2% each. Most equities in the region also traded higher, with shares in Seoul adding over 1%, while stocks in Singapore and Shanghai surged over 0.5% each. Separately, Argentina elected right-wing libertarian Javier Milei as its new president on Sunday, rolling the dice on an outsider with radical views to fix an economy battered by triple-digit inflation, a looming recession and rising poverty. In Taiwan, a potential joint bid by the island's two main opposition parties was in disarray as they bickered on how to agree on who will run for president with time running out to make a decision. News of Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party's progress on a joint presidential bid last week pushed the Taiwan dollar to its strongest weekly rally in a year on expectations of an easing of Taiwan-China tensions if they won. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Thai Q3 GDP growth disappoints, missing forecasts amid weak exports ** Malaysia's October exports fall 4.4% on-year, less than forecast - Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0516 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.45 -11.9 -0.51 29.94 8 ChinaIndia +0.01 -0.65 0.08 9.08 Indonesi +0.55 +1.04 0.17 2.03 a Malaysia +0.28 -5.68 -0.33 -2.65 Philippi +0.18 +0.38 -0.32 -5.70 nes S.Korea Singapor +0.16 -0.05 -0.43 -4.31 e Taiwan +0.60 -3.03 -0.08 21.62 Thailand +0.06 -1.35 0.13 -15.05 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)
MSCI TAIWAN (STRD)
Index
End-of-day quote MSCI 07:30:00 10/05/2024 pm IST | 5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
719.3 USD | +1.02% | +4.07% | +12.60% |
10/05 | Fincantieri Unit Wins Contract to Design, Build Vessels in Taiwan | MT |
10/05 | Taiwan Semiconductor April Revenue Increases -- Shares Advance Pre-Bell | MT |
Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
|
Change
|
5d. change
|
Capi.
| ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,728 PTS | +0.54% | -0.01% | - | ||
1,368 KRW | -0.13% | +0.98% | - | ||
1,002 KRW | +0.39% | +0.37% | - | ||
950.5 ARS | -0.06% | +0.95% | - | ||
904.4 KRW | +0.06% | +0.86% | - | ||
882.5 ARS | 0.00% | +0.46% | - | ||
719.3 USD | +1.02% | +4.07% | - | ||
21.39 TWD | -0.07% | +0.82% | - | ||
16.38 KRW | -0.10% | +0.82% | - | ||
7.233 CNH | +0.17% | +0.41% | - | ||
7.224 CNY | -0.02% | -0.21% | - | ||
1.695 SGD | 0.00% | +0.18% | - | ||
1.459 SGD | +0.01% | +0.46% | - | ||
1.354 SGD | 0.00% | +0.37% | - | ||
1.252 USD | 0.00% | -0.18% | - | ||
1.077 USD | -0.11% | +0.36% | - | ||
0.7309 USD | -0.03% | +0.10% | - | ||
0.6601 USD | 0.00% | -0.11% | - | ||
0.6018 USD | 0.00% | +0.15% | - | ||
0.0162 SGD | +0.04% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.012 USD | +0.04% | 0.00% | - | ||
- PTS | -.--% | +1.02% | - | ||
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