*
Thai baht, yuan and South Korean won each lose 0.3%
*
Philippines posts widest trade deficit in five months
*
Indonesia c.bank likely to hold interest rates - Reuters
poll
By Navya Mittal
March 14 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies lost ground
against the dollar on Tuesday as fears of a U.S. banking sector
crisis rattled investors, although the Malaysian ringgit climbed
higher.
U.S. regional bank shares saw heavy selling overnight in the
wake of the collapse of lenders Silicon Valley Bank and
Signature Bank .
The yuan , the South Korean won and the Thai baht each lost about 0.3%. The Indonesian rupiah was, however, down a milder 0.1%. The country's central bank is expected to hold interest rates at 5.75% at its Thursday meeting despite inflation remaining high. Equities in the region tracked Wall Street lower, with stock benchmarks in Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand slipping more than 1%.
Philippine stocks were down nearly 1% and the peso edged 0.1% lower after the country posted its widest trade deficit in five months for January. The Malaysian ringgit was the top advancer in the region, gaining 0.3%.
Poon Panichpibool, markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank, said investors seem to be more relieved about the pace of rising prices in the country after the central bank held rates at 2.75% last week.
He noted that fears of a U.S. banking crisis have led to a
repricing of interest rate expectations, with investors betting
the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to hike next week.
Traders currently see a 50% chance of no rate hike at that
meeting, with rate cuts priced in for the second half of the
year. Early last week, a 25 basis-point hike was fully priced
in, with a 70% chance seen of 50 basis points.
"Once the market reprices the Fed hike, there would be less
of a spread between policy rate in Malaysia and the U.S., so
that's likely to support the Malaysian ringgit compared with
other emerging Asia forex," Panichpibool added.
Highlights
** Philippines set to go from renewable laggard to leader in
SE Asia
** China to reopen borders to foreign tourists for first
time since 2020
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 7 basis
points at 6.823%
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0840 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD %
%
Japan -0.41 -1.96 <.N2 -2.19 5.96
25>
China <CNY=CFXS -0.33 +0.43 <.SS -0.87 4.89
> EC>
India -0.19 +0.54 <.NS 0.00 -5.25
EI>
Indonesi -0.10 +1.24 <.JK -1.59 -2.51
a SE>
Malaysia +0.34 -1.72 <.KL -1.28 -6.14
SE>
Philippi -0.11 +1.14 <.PS -0.99 -1.32
nes I>
S.Korea <KRW=KFTC -0.35 -3.21 <.KS -1.94 5.70
> 11>
Singapor -0.10 -0.56 <.ST -0.03 -3.69
e I>
Taiwan +0.25 +0.43 <.TW -0.98 8.99
II>
Thailand -0.27 +0.10 <.SE -1.21 -6.87
TI>
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
