* Asian emerging currencies largely unchanged, equities mixed * Chinese yuan appreciates 0.2% By Himanshi Akhand Oct 18 (Reuters) - Asian emerging currencies were largely steady on Wednesday after better-than-expected economic data from China suggested the world's second largest economy was stabilising, but investors held off making large bets as tension flared in the Middle East. The Chinese yuan appreciated 0.2% and was set for its best day in nearly four weeks. Malaysia's ringgit pared some losses and was last down about 0.1%, after falling as much as 0.3% to hit its lowest level in over 11 months earlier in the session. South Korea's won edged up 0.3% while Indonesia's rupiah dipped 0.1%. Data showed that China's gross domestic product grew 4.9% in the September quarter from a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations for a 4.4% increase but slower than the 6.3% expansion in the second quarter. Moreover, industrial production and retail sales data both rose in September and beat investor expectations, suggesting the Chinese economy is stabilising thanks to a recent slew of policy measures. "Even though the data is better than expected, it does also indicate that the economy is not turning around very sharply," Alvin Tan, Head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets said. "It is not a powerful recovery at all, and on top of that problems in the property market persists, so the impact of today's data is relatively limited." Meanwhile, risk aversion increased as Middle East tensions escalated after about 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital, which Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other. Adding to market jitters, Jordan cancelled a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders. The news contributed to a surge in oil prices as investors worried about potential supply disruptions. The Israeli shekel was largely unchanged at 4.014 per U.S. dollar, while the Turkish lira hit a record low of 28.05 against the dollar. "The geo-political tensions are still very high and difficult to sort in the near term. Moreover, the fact that U.S. data continues to be quite strong means continuing upside risks on Asian assets," RBC's Tan added. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1% lower. Stocks in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore fell between 0.2% and 0.6%. HIGHLIGHTS ** IMF says China property slowdown will weigh on Asia's growth ** The South Korean and Indonesian central banks are expected to leave interest rates unchanged when the they hold policy meetings on Thursday, according to Reuters polls ** Indonesian ruling party puts respected minister on election ticket Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0453 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.08 -12.4 <.N2 -0.11 22.63 1 25> ChinaEC> India +0.04 -0.61 <.NS 0.10 9.53 EI> Indonesi -0.13 -1.05 <.JK -0.24 1.06 a SE> Malaysia -0.08 -7.13 <.KL -0.10 -3.53 SE> Philippi +0.04 -1.87 <.PS -0.12 -4.46 nes I> S.Korea 11> Singapor +0.01 -2.04 <.ST -0.64 -3.07 e I> Taiwan +0.08 -4.84 <.TW -1.04 16.50 II> Thailand +0.03 -4.80 <.SE 0.71 -13.49 TI> (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
End-of-day quote
Other stock markets
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5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
5,960 KRW | +1.02% | +0.85% | -1.65% |
Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
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Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
| ||
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2,742 PTS | -0.97% | -0.66% | - | ||
761.5 USD | -1.56% | +3.66% | - | ||
84.48 USD | +0.26% | +2.45% | - | ||
80.38 USD | +0.38% | +2.58% | - | ||
34.98 TRY | -0.06% | +0.20% | - | ||
32.25 TRY | +0.16% | +0.22% | - | ||
7.268 CNH | +0.07% | +0.30% | - | ||
7.249 CNY | +0.06% | +0.15% | - | ||
1.275 USD | -0.04% | +0.28% | - | ||
1.085 USD | -0.00% | -0.12% | - | ||
0.7314 USD | -0.17% | -0.22% | - | ||
0.6128 USD | -0.19% | +0.59% | - | ||
0.012 USD | -0.24% | 0.00% | - | ||
1st Jan change | Capi. | |
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-1.65% | 27Cr | |
-8.39% | 19TCr | |
+30.56% | 9.64TCr | |
+59.52% | 6.61TCr | |
+14.95% | 6TCr | |
+26.34% | 3.12TCr | |
+15.60% | 2.14TCr | |
+0.05% | 2.01TCr | |
+42.60% | 1.75TCr | |
+1.89% | 1.66TCr |
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