*
Indonesian rupiah hits more than 7-month high
*
Stocks in Philippines top drag
*
India central bank to extend rate hike pause -poll
By Navya Mittal April 13 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah emerged as the top gainer among Southeast Asian currencies on Thursday after a cooler-than-anticipated U.S inflation print fanned expectations that the Federal Reserve was near the end of its rate hike cycle. The rupiah advanced for the fourth straight session, gaining 0.5% and hitting its highest level since Aug. 26. The South Korean won appreciated 1%, while the Malaysian ringgit was up 0.2%. Consumer prices in the world's largest economy barely rose in March as the cost of gasoline declined, although stubbornly high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering. "Regardless, with housing prices starting to turn lower, in line with recent rental trends, the March report indicates progress in disinflation for the U.S.," Maybank analysts wrote in a note.
Bucking the trend, the Philippine peso edged lower after the central bank said it could pause its interest rate- hiking cycle at its meeting next month as inflation eased. The country has raised rates by 425 basis points since last year to 6.25%.
"This may also be weighing on the currency as the projected interest rate differential could narrow should the Fed hike in May while the BSP opts to pause," said Nicholas Mapa, senior economist at ING, referring to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The Reserve Bank of India is expected to follow suit and is likely to extend a rate pause through year-end, according to a Reuters poll.
The Indian rupee rose 0.1%, climbing for the second
consecutive session. The country's retail inflation rose at the
slowest annual pace in nearly 15 months in March, with the 5.66%
gain lower than the central bank's upper tolerance level for the
first time this year.
Inflation is likely to slip below 5% in April, making the
bar for another rate hike high, Barclays analysts said.
Stocks across the region followed Wall Street lower, with
the benchmark in Manila leading the losses to dip to its
lowest since March 20. Equities in Taiwan and Jakarta lost more than 0.3% each.
Highlights
** Sovereign debtors, creditors agree on steps to jumpstart
debt restructurings
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 0.4 basis
points at 6.643%??
** Japan, France and India to launch platform to coordinate
Sri Lanka debt Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0336 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD %
%
Japan -0.10 -1.61 <.N2 0.12 9.34
25>
China <CNY=CFXS -0.03 +0.37 <.SS -0.05 7.64
> EC>
India +0.14 +0.92 <.NS 0.00 -1.62
EI>
Indonesi +0.47 +5.13 <.JK -0.35 -1.10
a SE>
Malaysia +0.23 +0.00 <.KL -0.10 -4.16
SE>
Philippi -0.05 +0.76 <.PS -1.09 -2.55
nes I>
S.Korea <KRW=KFTC +1.02 -3.64 <.KS 0.13 14.20
> 11>
Singapor +0.14 +1.02 <.ST -0.12 0.95
e I>
Taiwan +0.02 +0.69 <.TW -0.38 12.27
II>
Thailand - +1.04 <.SE - -4.55
TI>
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
