EMERGING MARKETS-Singapore, Seoul stocks climb in Asia; currencies mostly flat

Indranil Sarkar and Savyata Mishra

3 February 2022 at 12:49 am·2-min read

* Singapore, Seoul stocks rise over 2% * Most currencies broadly flat * Indonesian rupiah weakens By Indranil Sarkar and Savyata Mishra Feb 3 (Reuters) - Singapore and South Korea shares rose more than 2% on Thursday as they resumed trading after holidays this week, while Asian emerging currencies were flat, with investors awaiting signals from central banks in Britain and Europe on interest rates. The Singapore FTSE Straits Times Index rose as much as 2.3% to its highest level since July 2019, driven mostly by its heavyweight financial stocks. Seoul stocks also rose more than 2%, with the main index set for its sharpest daily gain in almost a year, as the market reopened after a three-day holiday and played catch up with the rally in global stocks. Policy decisions from the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are due at 1200 GMT and 1245 GMT, respectively. Markets have fully priced in a 25 basis point hike from the BoE, so the focus is likely to be on the outlook. While the ECB is not expected to offer up policy changes, hot consumer prices and recent strong labour data have raised expectations for a shift in tone, especially around inflation. "Banks are the primary beneficiaries of the current rising interest rate cycle," said Paul Chew Kuan Leng, Head of Phillip Securities Research, referring to Singapore shares. In South Korea, heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the biggest contributors to the index's rise, adding 1% and 4.2%, respectively. South Korea's factory activity grew at the sharpest pace since July last year as output and new orders picked up, a private-sector survey showed. Emerging Asian currencies were largely flat after the dollar recouped losses from earlier this week, as a slump in tech and social media stocks soured appetite for riskier currencies. The Malaysian ringgit, Singapore dollar and the South Korean won moved between 0% and a gain of 0.1%. The Indonesia rupiah, however, weakened 0.1%. China and Taiwan markets were closed due to public holidays. HIGHLIGHTS ** Top gainers on the Singapore STI include CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust up 4.1%, United Overseas Bank Ltd up 3.7% ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are unchanged at 6.4% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0424 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % DAILY YTD % % % Japan -0.05 +0.51 -1.12 -5.4 China India +0.00 -0.68 -0.41 2.03 Indonesia -0.14 -0.87 -0.28 1.63 Malaysia +0.10 -0.38 0.74 -2.81 Philippin +0.22 +0.16 -0.22 4.49 es S.Korea Singapore -0.04 +0.11 2.08 6.19 Taiwan 0.00 -0.50 0.00 -2.99 Thailand +0.27 +0.78 0.17 0.78 (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)