EMERGING MARKETS-Thai stocks dip, baht inches up as cenbank holds fire

  • 12/23/2020
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* Malaysian stocks climb by their most in a week * Philippines and Indonesia buck regional gains * S.Korea reports second-highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases By Pranav A K Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Thai baht inched higher and shares fell on Wednesday after the country"s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged as expected, while strength in China helped Asian shares buck a broader pullback in global equities. The baht, whose bounce back in recent months the Bank of Thailand has sought to cap with verbal and outright market intervention, ticked up 0.1% against the dollar after the decision to keep rates at a record low of 0.50%. Shares in Bangkok, however, gave up gains from early trade and slipped half a percent, as the central bank also downgraded its 2021 GDP forecasts for a tourism-reliant economy dealing with a fresh coronavirus outbreak. "Our call is for a rate cut by Q1 next year," said Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of capital markets research at Thailand"s Kasikornbank. "This is probably them (BoT) trying to decide based on data, rather than impulse. If we start to see more and more cases, that will substantiate their decision to push a cut to Q1 next year." Broader Asian stock markets shrugged off the global impact of uncertainty around a U.S. stimulus package and a highly contagious new coronavirus variant in Europe, with equities in South Korea, India, Malaysia and Singapore all higher. Sentiment in Asia"s tourism- and trade-reliant economies got a lift following a near 1% jump in Chinese shares due to a report that the People"s Bank of China would avoid sudden policy tightening next year to aid growth. Asian stocks have recovered from their March lows as signs of a rapid recovery in economic powerhouse China, low valuations and the still high yields in some markets drew a flood of foreign capital. Equity markets in South Korea, India and Taiwan are up about 25%, 11% and 18% respectively for the year. Malaysian stocks rose by their most in a week and were on course to end a four-session losing streak, while South Korea"s KOSPI climbed 1%, boosted by a jump in tech shares after LG Electronics announced a joint venture for making key components for electric cars. The won, however, weakened slightly as the country reported its second-highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases. "Relatively better management of the virus situation across most of the Asia region is likely having helped to see buying interests step in following the dip so far this week," said Jingyi Pan, a senior market strategist with IG. HIGHLIGHTS ** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields are up 16.5 basis points at 5.074% ** Top losers on Thailand"s SETI include Royal Ceramic Industry PCL, down 12.16%, and Amanah Leasing PCL, down 7.24% ** Top gainers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index include Genting Bhd, up 4.64%, and Genting Malaysia Bhd, up 3.83% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0749 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCKS DAILY YTD % S YTD % % DAILY % Japan +0.23 +5.05 0.33 12.12 China India +0.09 -3.25 0.68 11.42 Indonesi -0.11 -1.98 -0.46 -4.83 a Malaysia -0.02 +0.71 1.18 3.93 Philippi +0.10 +5.41 0.03 -7.82 nes S.Korea Singapor +0.18 +0.82 0.22 -12.08 e Taiwan +1.42 +6.97 0.32 18.55 Thailand +0.10 -0.89 -0.45 -10.24

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