EMERGING MARKETS-Indonesian rupiah trips on virus woes; Asia FX eyes FOMC

  • 6/14/2021
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* Rupiah set for worst day since May 20 * S.Korea"s won tracks biggest drop since June 2 * China, Taiwan markets closed * Graphic: World FX rates tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E * Asian stock markets: tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 By Shashwat Awasthi June 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia"s rupiah was set for its biggest daily drop in more than three weeks on Monday, as a sustained spike in coronavirus infections threatened to tarnish the country"s economic growth projections. Trading in most other emerging Asian markets was thinned by holidays in China and Taiwan, and as investors awaited monetary policy meetings, including the U.S. Federal Reserve"s, this week. The rupiah weakened 0.3% and was on track for its biggest one-day fall since May 20. Stocks in Jakarta inched up amid expectations that Bank Indonesia will keep interest rates at record lows on Thursday. Indonesia has reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since February over the last few days, prompting the country"s finance minister to warn of a hit to second-quarter gross domestic product growth forecast. "While the worst appears to be over for the economy, the post Eid-ul-Fitr spike in COVID-19 cases threatens a delayed reopening and likely a more moderate bounce back in real GDP growth from last year"s modest contraction," Societe Generale analysts had said in a note last week. The Fed meeting on Wednesday will be the main event this week, with markets keen to note the central bank"s suggestions around rising inflation or signals that it would move away from ultra-loose monetary policy earlier than expected. "There appears to be limited scope for a hawkish surprise at this meeting," analysts at Barclays said in a note. "Despite a sharp rise in long-term UST yields in Q1 and increasing focus on Fed tapering, financial markets have remained largely sanguine this year and a benign FOMC outcome should support risk and EM FX in the near term." Emerging market assets have recorded healthy inflows in recent weeks with U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar under pressure as markets have largely shrugged off worries over rising U.S. inflation. Philippine shares have surged more than 11% in the last three weeks, stocks in Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam have rallied more than 5% each over that period, and Indian stocks have hit record highs. Malaysia"s ringgit and Thailand"s baht, both about 0.2% lower on the day, have risen for the last three weeks. Taiwan"s central bank will also hold a monetary policy meeting on Thursday, while the Bank of Japan will announce its rate decision on Friday. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 7.3 basis points at 6.361% ** Top gainers on the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index include Top Glove up 1.9%, Supermax up 1.6% and Hartalega Holdings up 1.5% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0621 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD % Japan -0.07 -5.91 0.74 6.26 China 0.00 +2.04 0.00 3.36 India -0.15 -0.15 -0.56 12.36 Indonesia -0.23 -1.27 0.09 2.04 Malaysia -0.17 -2.26 0.53 -2.69 Philippines -0.20 +0.30 0.14 -3.11 S.Korea -0.54 -2.74 0.16 13.26 Singapore -0.08 -0.44 -0.10 10.94 Taiwan 0.00 +3.08 0.00 16.84 Thailand -0.13 -3.67 0.01 12.93 (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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