*
S.Korean won weakens 0.8%
*
Stocks in Manila fall 1.5%
*
Ringgit hits three-month low
By Himanshi Akhand Feb 22 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian equities fell on Wednesday and South Korea's won led a decline in the region's currencies, as fears of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates hit sentiment, with investors eyeing minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting. Stocks in the Philippines and Indonesia slid 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively, while Seoul shares retreated 1.7%. The South Korean won fell as much as 0.8% The Bank of Korea will announce its rate decision on Thursday, with a Reuters poll of economists showing the central bank will hold its base interest rate at 3.50% on the day and for the rest of this year too, suggesting that its longest tightening cycle on record is over despite still high inflation. Meanwhile, the dollar remained resilient after data released on Tuesday showed U.S. business activity had unexpectedly rebounded in February to reach its highest in eight months, raising bets that the Fed would keep lifting rates. Traders will also focus on minutes of the U.S. central bank's two-day policy meeting, held between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, due to be released later in the day.
"The recent stream of economic data has been pointing towards resilience in U.S. economic conditions and while the narrative has been one of 'no landing' as opposed to the previous 'hard landing', interest-rate expectations are also seeing a hawkish recalibration as a result," said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG. "This recalibration seems to be the catalyst for jitters."
The Thai baht fell 0.2%. The currency had appreciated 4.5% in January, but has reversed all those gains so far this month. The Malaysian ringgit also declined 0.2% to its lowest level in nearly three months. Bucking the trend, the Singaporean dollar appreciated 0.1%. "The January consumer price inflation (CPI) print is quite important for the Singapore dollar because there is a lot of speculation about whether the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) is going pause tightening in April," Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said. Singapore's CPI data for January is due to be released on Thursday. The Taiwanese dollar inched 0.4% lower ahead of the fourth-quarter GDP data, due later in the day. "Final GDP for 4Q should contract 0.9% year-on-year ... reflecting the impact on the economy of weak demand for electronics, mainly semiconductors," analysts at ING wrote in a note.
"This weakness should continue at least in 1Q23, which
implies the chance of a slight recession in Taiwan," they added.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Indonesian President Joko Widodo will nominate central
bank governor Perry Warjiyo for a second five-year term and will
put forward no other candidates for the post, three sources
familiar with the matter said on Tuesday
** The Bank of Japan said it would conduct emergency bond
buying after the yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds
breached the top end of the central bank's policy band for a
second straight session
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0701 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD %
%
Japan +0.16 -2.72 <.N2 -1.34 3.87
25>
China <CNY=CFXS -0.14 +0.05 <.SS -0.49 6.51
> EC>
India -0.04 -0.12 <.NS -0.97 -2.50
EI>
Indonesi -0.20 +2.30 <.JK -0.94 -0.61
a SE>
Malaysia -0.12 -0.81 <.KL -0.32 -1.75
SE>
Philippi -0.22 +0.96 <.PS -1.53 1.98
nes I>
S.Korea <KRW=KFTC -0.69 -3.10 <.KS -1.68 8.11
> 11>
Singapor +0.08 +0.04 <.ST -0.13 1.57
e I>
Taiwan -0.37 +0.59 <.TW -0.93 9.06
II>
Thailand -0.22 -0.23 <.SE -0.30 -0.30
TI>
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Bradley Perrett and Uttaresh.V)
