*
China's Q1 GDP jumps 4.5% y/y, beats expectations
*
Indonesia c.bank holds rates at 5.75%
*
Chinese shares gains 0.2%, yuan inches up 0.1%
By Harish Sridharan April 18 (Reuters) - Stocks and currencies in Asia fell on Tuesday, even as China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace, while Indonesian shares pared some gains after the country's central bank held interest rates in a widely expected move.
China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.5% in the first quarter, outpacing an expected 4.0% growth, as the end of strict COVID-19 curbs lifted businesses and consumers. Separate data on March activity showed China's retail sales also sharply expanded. However, China's property investment fell 5.8% and fixed asset investments growth missed expectations. "Investments continue to languish.. suggesting that the underlying confidence has yet to convincingly recover in tandem with growth stimulus," Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank wrote in a note.
Markets in Asia remained largely weaker. Shares in Shanghai were up 0.2%, while equities in Singapore , Manila and Bangkok slipped between 0.4% and 0.6%.
Shares in Jakarta had risen as much as 0.8% but pared some gains to trade up 0.5% after Bank Indonesia (BI) left the seven-day reverse repurchase rate unchanged at 5.75% for a third consecutive meeting.
The rupiah - down nearly 0.4% prior to the rate decision - stayed at that level. The yield on Indonesia's benchmark 10-year note rose to 6.668%.
"The U.S. Federal Reserve being near the end of the tightening cycle further reduced the need for BI to tighten," said Frances Cheung, rates strategist at OCBC.
Emerging markets such as South Korea, Singapore and India also recently paused sustained policy tightening campaigns as growth concerns took precedence over high inflation.
"While there are domestic factors arguing for a pause (in rate hikes), central banks in Asia may not turn outright dovish before the Fed does so," Cheung said.
In currency markets, Malaysia's ringgit , the Philippine peso and South Korean won fell against the dollar, while China's yuan was up 0.1%.
"Despite some positive Chinese activity data overnight, Asian currencies are not rallying, suggesting that the recent rebound in the dollar should not be dismissed," analysts at ING wrote.
The dollar rallied overnight as strong U.S. economic data reinforced expectations that the Fed would hike interest rates again in May. It eased 0.2% on Tuesday. Futures markets are currently pricing in a nearly 88% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting in May, up from 81.4% on Monday. HIGHLIGHTS
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Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0752 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan +0.17 -2.32 0.51 9.83
China <CNY=CFX +0.07 +0.34 0.23 9.84
S>
India -0.06 +0.85 -0.04 -2.24
Indonesia -0.37 +4.89 0.57 -0.36
Malaysia -0.36 -0.79 -0.26 -4.30
Philippines -0.32 -0.77 -0.63 -1.55
S.Korea <KRW=KFT -0.57 -4.10 -0.19 14.97
C>
Singapore +0.07 +0.50 -0.35 1.73
Taiwan -0.10 +0.60 -0.59 12.25
Thailand +0.41 +0.70 -0.49 -4.56
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru)
