* Philippines c.bank meeting due Thursday
* Markets await tapering signals from Fed
* Taiwan shares track worst day since Aug. 19
By Shashwat Awasthi
Sept 22 (Reuters) - Indonesia"s main share index jumped
almost 1% while the main Philippines index crept further away
from multi-week lows on Wednesday as most emerging Asian markets
welcomed China Evergrande"s promise to pay some bond interest
due Thursday.
The notable exceptions were markets in Taiwan and China,
which suffered steep losses as they reopened after an extended
holiday, while Singapore shares slid to a four-month low
after the city-state reported its highest daily COVID-19 cases
since April last year.
Taiwanese shares sank almost 2%, while Chinese
stocks fell to a near three-week low.
Shares in Manila climbed 0.7% and Indonesian stocks
were on track for their best day since Aug. 30 after
Evergrande"s announcement allayed fears of an imminent
collapse, bringing relief to markets globally.
Markets had already begun to stabilise on Tuesday as
analysts downplayed the potential fallout from the property
developer"s debt crisis and saw that relief seep into Wednesday.
Jakarta"s benchmark index also bounced on the back of Bank
Indonesia (BI) resisting any temptation to cut interest rates
that are already at record lows, even though coronavirus curbs
have probably hampered economic growth.
Any reduction in Indonesian rates ahead of this week"s
Federal Reserve policy meeting, which is being closely watched
for word on when the Fed will begin tapering its monetary
stimulus, would have left the rupiah vulnerable.
"The need to secure rupiah stability added to the reasons
for the central bank to keep rates on hold ahead of the U.S.
FOMC meeting this week," research analysts at Singapore-based
DBS said.
They added that Indonesian rates had bottomed out and
liquidity management would likely be BI"s first step towards
policy normalisation in 2022, while they expect the rupiah to be
stable between 14000-15000 per dollar going into 2022.
Most regional currencies edged lower against a broadly firm
U.S. dollar.
The Malaysian ringgit and Philippine peso shed
0.1%, while the Thai baht gave up 0.2%.
In a week flush with central bank meetings, a report from
Philippines" Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is due on
Thursday.
The bank is widely expected to keep its key interest rate
steady at a record low in the wake of a recent resurgence in
COVID-19 cases and curbs, a Reuters poll showed, though one
economist called for a 25 basis points cut.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Malaysia"s 10-year benchmark yield is up 1.3
basis points at 3.359%.
** The top gainer on the Jakarta stock index was Andalan
Sakti Primaindo, up 34.6%.
** The top loser on the Singapore benchmark was Yangzijiang
Shipbuilding, down 2.8%.
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0405 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCK
DAILY YTD % X DAILY S YTD
% % %
Japan -0.24 -5.69 <.N2 -0.62 8.05
25>
China
مشاركة :