EM ASIA FX-Asia FX slip as mood dims on sell-off in techs, S. Korean won leads losses
* Indian Rupee touches its weakest level in more than a year
* Indonesian rupiah loses; BI stands pat on key rate on
Thursday
* Thai, Malaysian, Indian reserves data due later in day
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Aaron Saldanha
April 20 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies slipped on
Friday as a downturn in equity markets, largely driven by a
sell-off in technology firms, tempered risk-appetite.
"You are seeing a reaction probably in terms of U.S.
equities, which were negative, emerging markets equities are
also a bit mixed and then you add on top of that...commodity
prices," said Saktianti Supaat, regional head of FX Research &
Strategy, Maybank Group.
Overnight, losses for technology stocks dented Wall Street's
three major indexes, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares ex Japan shed 1.05 percent on Friday.
The world's largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co Ltd was the catalyst for losses in
the technology space after it forecast softer demand for
smartphones.
The backdrop of weaker equities combined with lingering
concerns over a U.S.-China tariff standoff to dull risk
appetite.
The focus in currency markets was largely on Thursday's
comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, which
dampened expectations for a rate hike in May, and sent the
British pound sliding.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies
was a shade higher at 89.96.
The South Korean won underperformed its regional
peers, losing as much as about 0.7 percent, its biggest
percentage loss in two weeks. Asia's fourth-largest economy has
broad exposure to the tech space, so any crunch in demand could
hurt its globe-trotting manufacturers.
The won moved away from 1,060 level, a significant support
in dollar-won terms, and was last fetching 1067.3 on the dollar.
It had breached the level on Thursday before closing at 1,061.5.
The Taiwan dollar weakened about 0.2 percent, while
both the Singapore dollar and the Thai baht
lost about 0.1 percent each.
Elsewhere, the Philippine peso and the Malaysian
ringgit hardly moved.
Thailand and Malaysia are due to report data on their
foreign exchange reserves later in the day.
The yuan lost 0.2 percent as traders awaited
clues on direction in a market that has fluctuated in a narrow
band over the past weeks despite concerns about the
sustainability of China's growth.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH
Indonesia's rupiah traded 0.25 percent lower in line
with the generally weak risk sentiment.
On Thursday, Bank Indonesia, the central bank, kept its key
interest rate unchanged as expected. The seven-day reverse
repurchase rate was held at 4.25 percent, where it
has been since September last year.
The decision underscored the need to maintain stability as
the economy faces external pressures including higher oil prices
and a potential trade war.
INDIAN RUPEE
India's rupee lost as much as 0.4 percent to its
weakest since mid-March, 2017.
The weakness came even as minutes of the last meeting of
India’s central bank suggested it could take a more hawkish tone
starting as early as June despite easing inflation.
India is due to release data on its foreign exchange
reserves later on Friday.
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against
the dollar at 0519 GMT.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Currency Latest bid Previous Pct Move
day
Japan yen 107.610 107.36 -0.23
Sing dlr 1.312 1.3114 -0.06
Taiwan dlr 29.389 29.340 -0.17
Korean won 1066.500 1061.5 -0.47
Baht 31.240 31.22 -0.06
Peso 52.108 52.1 -0.02
Rupiah 13815.000 13780 -0.25
Rupee 66.008 65.79 -0.33
Ringgit 3.890 3.889 -0.03
Yuan 6.286 6.2760 -0.16
Change so far in 2018
Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move
Japan yen 107.610 112.67 +4.70
Sing dlr 1.312 1.3373 +1.91
Taiwan dlr 29.389 29.848 +1.56
Korean won 1066.500 1070.50 +0.38
Baht 31.240 32.58 +4.29
Peso 52.108 49.93 -4.18
Rupiah 13815.000 13565 -1.81
Rupee 66.008 63.87 -3.24
Ringgit 3.890 4.0440 +3.96
Yuan 6.286 6.5069 +3.51
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha, Additional reporting by Christina
Martin in Bengaluru
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
