*
India's rupee, S.Korean won lead losses
*
Philippine stocks face worst day in nearly 2 months
*
Thai baht on track to gain 5.5% this month
*
Investors see Fed hiking rates by 25 bps this week
By Upasana Singh
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies and stock
markets slipped on Tuesday, with traders waiting to see if the
U.S. central bank would slow the pace of its interest rate hikes
as inflation and the economy show signs of losing momentum.
Indonesia's rupiah , which has gained nearly 4% so far
this month, fell 0.1% to hover near its lowest level since last
September. The Chinese yuan and Malaysia's ringgit eased 0.1% each.
Philippine stocks led the declines in the region as
they dropped 3.3% in their sharpest fall since Dec. 2 last year.
"Most Asian FX seem to be in a consolidation mode now,
following strong gains in January... and ahead of key central
banks meetings this week, particularly the U.S. FOMC (Federal
Open Market Committee)," said Chidu Narayanan, Asia rates and
markets strategist at BNP Paribas.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise
interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday - the smallest
since the central bank kicked off its tightening cycle 10 months
ago with one the same size. Analysts expect two more
quarter-percentage point hikes by mid-2023.
"Post-meeting communication is probably going to emphasise
that the Fed is not done in terms of further tightening and
(Chair Jerome) Powell will probably still signal that more rate
hikes are in the pipeline," said Mitul Kotecha, head of EM
strategy at TD Securities.
South Korea's won weakened as much as 0.3%, while
stocks in Seoul dropped 1%. The country's industrial
output fell in December more sharply than expected and posted
its worst annual performance in over 2-1/2 years, data showed.
Thailand's factory output dropped more than expected in
December, as a global slowdown hit demand for Thai exports.
Stocks in Bangkok shed 0.3%, while the baht fell 0.1%.
India's rupee weakened 0.3% and shares were
trading 0.4% lower on the final day of Adani Enterprises' mega
secondary share sale and ahead of the country's federal budget
on Wednesday.
In other news, China's economic activity swung back to
growth in January after a wave of COVID-19 infections passed
through the country faster than expected following Beijing's
sudden U-turn on pandemic controls.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Singapore and other Southeast Asian economies are seeing
downgrades to their 2023 growth outlooks because slowing global
growth will outweigh the positive impact from China's economic
reopening, according to International Monetary Fund economists
** JG Summit down 7.6% and Semirara Mining and
Power down 6.2% - top losers on the Philippine
benchmark index
** Philippine inflation likely to be within a range of 7.5%
to 8.3% in January
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the
dollar at 0603 GMT.
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD %
%
Japan +0.15 +0.67 <.N2 -0.44 4.87
25>
China <CNY=CFXS -0.07 +2.12 <.SS -0.31 5.50
> EC>
India -0.28 +1.22 <.NS -0.35 -2.86
EI>
Indonesi -0.13 +3.87 <.JK -0.45 -0.13
a SE>
Malaysia -0.14 +3.58 <.KL -0.75 -0.49
SE>
Philippi +0.09 +2.18 <.PS -3.29 2.67
nes I>
S.Korea <KRW=KFTC -0.31 +2.70 <.KS -0.98 8.50
> 11>
Singapor -0.01 +1.95 <.ST -0.51 3.37
e I>
Taiwan +0.31 +2.21 <.TW -1.48 7.98
II>
Thailand -0.08 +5.51 <.SE -0.26 0.49
TI>
(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)
