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Thailand's baht sees sharpest one-day fall since Dec 2006
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Stocks, currencies in Emerging Asia decline
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Markets in Malaysia closed for holiday
By Harish Sridharan
Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Thai baht fell the most in a day
in 16 years and headlined broad weakness for Asian currencies on
Monday as the dollar extended its rally after a strong U.S. jobs
report indicated
the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates higher for longer.
The baht weakened 1.6% against the U.S. currency to
33.48, on track for its worst session since December 2006.
South Korea's won was down 1.5%, while the Philippine peso and Indonesia's rupiah both fell over 1%.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls surged by 517,000 last month. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a gain of 185,000. The data, which came on the heels of what were seen as largely dovish messages from the Federal Reserve and some other central banks earlier this week, spurred concerns about interest rates staying elevated, boosting the dollar and pushing bond markets lower.
"Even after accounting for recent loosening in U.S. financial conditions, EM Asia risks appear significantly underpriced," said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, Singapore.
The dollar index touched a nearly 4-week high of 103.22 and was last at 103.06. On Monday, data from Thailand's commerce ministry showed headline consumer price index (CPI) in the country rose 5.02% in January from a year earlier, the slowest pace in nine months and below analyst forecasts.
Over the course of the week, inflation data from the Philippines, Taiwan and India are expected, while Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) is also scheduled for release.
Indonesia posted a faster-than-expected annual economic growth in the fourth quarter of 5.01%, official data showed on Monday. A Reuters poll had expected gross domestic product in the fourth quarter to be 4.84% bigger than the same period last year, below the 5.72% annual expansion recorded for the previous three months. Equities in the region were also largely weaker. Stocks in Manila fell 1.4%, while shares in Taipei , Seoul and Jakarta were down between 0.7% and 1.3%. In India, an extended selloff in Adani group's stocks further pressured equities, dragging the local benchmark down 0.6%. The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise its main interest rate by a modest 25 basis points to 6.50% at its meeting on Wednesday, before leaving it at that level for the rest of the year.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Yield on Indonesia's benchmark 10-year note rises to 6.632%
** Indonesia president warns regulator to boost supervision
after Adani rout
** Taiwan exports seen contracting for fifth straight month
in January
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0415 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCK STOCKS
DAILY % S YTD %
% DAILY
%
Japan -0.47 -12.68 0.77 6.23
China +0.30 -6.27 -1.01 -11.24
India -0.76 -9.85 -0.57 2.30
Indonesia -1.05 -5.30 -0.69 4.29
Malaysia - -2.16 - -4.92
Philippines -1.00 -5.91 -1.30 -2.62
S.Korea -1.47 -4.73 -1.07 9.72
Singapore -0.05 +1.92 0.17 4.27
Taiwan -0.06 -7.45 -0.98 9.29
Thailand -1.46 -0.24 -0.37 1.48
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Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
