EM ASIA FX-Currencies hit by stronger U.S. dollar; Indonesian rupiah slumps
* Indonesian rupiah trades for first time since June 8;
loses more
than 1 pct
* India's Chief Economic Adviser says will resign
* Taiwan rate decision due later in the day
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Aaron Saldanha
June 21 (Reuters) - All emerging Asian currencies weakened
against a firming dollar on Thursday, as comments by the U.S.
Federal Reserve chairman on the pace of rate hikes and a pick-up
in U.S. yields fuelled the greenback.
Treasury yields rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed bank should continue to
gradually raise rates.
The dollar index against a group of six major
currencies stood at 95.243 after rising to 95.299 overnight, its
highest since mid-July 2017.
Among the regional currencies, the Taiwan dollar
lost 0.2 percent ahead of a monetary policy meeting later in the
day. The Taiwan's central bank is widely expected to keep its
policy rate steady for an eighth straight quarter.
Thirteen of 17 analysts polled by Reuters said they expected
the central bank to leave the benchmark discount rate
at 1.375 percent. Four analysts predicted a 12.5
basis point rise to 1.5 percent.
"Taiwan's sovereign bonds and currency have held up well
through the recent bout of emerging markets stress. This should
not come as a surprise given Taiwan's large current account
surplus, substantial FX reserves and low level of government
indebtedness," DBS Bank strategists Philip Wee and Duncan Tan
wrote in a note.
"As a result, the Taiwan central bank enjoys some level of
flexibility in setting the timing and pace of policy
normalization."
Indonesia's rupiah weakened 1.23 percent on Thursday
as currency market opened for the first time since June 8 as
traders returned from a series of public holidays.
The fall was despite Bank Indonesia saying on Tuesday that
it was ready to defend the rupiah and respond to the U.S.
Federal Reserve's interest rate increase with another hike of
its own.
China's yuan lost 0.27 percent, with the central
bank's fixing rate set at its weakest in more than
five months.
Malaysia's ringgit was 0.15 percent weaker, leaving
it relatively untouched compared to regional peers.
The Singapore dollar and the South Korean won
weakened 0.29 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively.
Thailand's baht slid as much as 0.5 percent on
Thursday to touch its lowest since mid-November as the Bank of
Thailand held rates steady on Wednesday.
Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob told
reporters on Thursday that Thailand has a strong external
position and the baht could withstand an impact from global
trade protectionism.
PHILIPPINE PESO
The Philippine peso slid 0.27 percent to move closer
to an 12-year intra-day low seen on Monday.
Thursday's weakness came despite the Philippine central bank
hiking rates for the second time in six weeks on Wednesday and
saying it was ready to take further action to tame inflation and
volatility in the peso.
The country is seeing significant outflows and its equity
benchmark fell as much as 2 percent on Thursday, setting
it on its way to end a sixth straight session lower.
INDIAN RUPEE
The Indian rupee saw a 0.21 percent fall on
Thursday after the minutes of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI)
June policy meeting were released after market hours on
Wednesday.
The minutes said RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya noted the
bank's monetary policy committee would keep a neutral stance
because of "considerable uncertainties" around oil, food prices
and trade tensions.
India's country's current account deficit is closely tied to
oil prices. A sustained period of higher energy prices has the
potential to increase food prices, speeding up inflation.
India's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian said on
Wednesday he was quitting his post to return to academic
research in the United States.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the
dollar at 0513 GMT.
Change on day at 0513 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous Pct Move
day
Japan yen 110.720 110.35 -0.33
Sing dlr 1.362 1.3584 -0.29
Taiwan dlr 30.231 30.170 -0.20
Korean won 1109.700 1105.1 -0.41
Baht 32.930 32.78 -0.46
Peso 53.422 53.277 -0.27
Rupiah 14098.000 13925 -1.23
Rupee 68.210 68.07 -0.21
Ringgit 4.010 4.004 -0.15
Yuan 6.492 6.4750 -0.27
Change so far in 2018
Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move
Japan yen 110.720 112.67 +1.76
Sing dlr 1.362 1.3373 -1.84
Taiwan dlr 30.231 29.848 -1.27
Korean won 1109.700 1070.50 -3.53
Baht 32.930 32.58 -1.06
Peso 53.422 49.93 -6.54
Rupiah 14098.000 13565 -3.78
Rupee 68.210 63.87 -6.36
Ringgit 4.010 4.0440 +0.85
Yuan 6.492 6.5069 +0.22
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru)