*
S.Korean won leads losses among Asia FX
*
Markets await raft of Chinese data, BI rate decision
*
Malaysian ringgit eyes worst session since March 29
By Harish Sridharan April 17 (Reuters) - Asian currencies broadly declined against a firmer dollar on Monday, on increased expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its May meeting.
The South Korean won fell more than 1% in its biggest single-day dip in two weeks, while the Malaysian ringgit , Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht weakened between 0.4% and 0.5%. Data last week showed a resilience in core U.S. retail sales and a rise in short-term inflation expectations, which have led markets to re-calibrate the likelihood of a Fed hike at its next meeting.
Money markets are now pricing in an 81.4% chance the Fed will hike rates by 25 basis points next month, compared to a 69% chance last week. In Asia, a slew of Chinese economic data due on Tuesday will provide some insight on how the end of China's strict zero-COVID curbs have helped the recovery in the world's second-largest economy.
Chinese blue chips added 0.8%, while the broader index rose 0.9%.
Last week, China reported an unexpected surge in its exports for March, but analysts have cautioned the improvement partly reflects suppliers catching up with unfulfilled orders after last year's COVID-19 disruptions. The rupiah and stocks in Jakarta were both weaker, ahead of Bank Indonesia's policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is set to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 5.75% for a third consecutive meeting, according to a Reuters poll.
If Indonesia pulls the brakes on rate hikes, it would join emerging markets such as South Korea, Singapore and India that have recently paused sustained policy tightening campaigns as growth concerns take precedence over high inflation.
"While the Fed is likely to keep raising its policy rate this year, BI is primarily focused on core inflation, not the IDR, in its post-pandemic normalisation cycle," analysts at Barclays said in a note. "Overall, we now expect BNM (Bank Negara Malaysia) and BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to be the only central banks in emerging Asia left with more rate hikes in them – with the BoT (Bank of Thailand) possibly also staying in this list."
Shares in the region were also largely downbeat. Stocks in Manila , Kuala Lumpur and Seoul fell between 0.2% and 0.7%.
Meanwhile, Singapore's March non-oil domestic exports shrank 8.3%, though the drop was smaller than the previous month and less than forecast.
HIGHLIGHTS
** In the Philippines, BDO Unibank Inc falls 2.7%
to top losses
** Thai stocks hit highest level since April 4
** Thai PM Prayuth lags rivals in opinion polls ahead of May
election
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0337 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan -0.14 -2.13 -0.06 9.12
China -0.11 +0.34 0.91 9.04
India -0.05 +1.01 0.00 -1.53
Indonesia -0.49 +5.40 -0.42 -0.89
Malaysia -0.36 -0.36 -0.28 -4.31
Philippines -0.34 +0.25 -0.65 -1.93
S.Korea -1.10 -3.72 -0.12 14.85
Singapore -0.17 +0.59 0.02 1.60
Taiwan -0.07 +0.73 0.03 12.71
Thailand -0.35 +0.68 0.57 -4.01
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
