*
Thai baht leads losses
*
All eyes on U.S. CPI
*
Equities in South Korea among top gainers
By Navya Mittal May 8 (Reuters) - Asian currencies were subdued while shares gained on Monday after strong U.S. jobs data crushed hopes for a pause in monetary tightening, with investors turning to upcoming inflation data for more clues on interest rate trends.
The Indonesian rupiah eased 0.2% and the Thai baht weakened 0.6%, leading regional losses, while the Philippine peso gained slightly. Most other currencies edged lower. Markets across the region tracked Friday's Wall Street gains, with equities in Seoul and Manila up 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.
The robust U.S. payrolls report last week quashed bets the Federal Reserve would pause rate hikes, and any upside surprise from consumer prices due on Wednesday would further challenge bets for a rate cut as soon as September.
Forecasts are for a rise of 0.4% in April for both the headline and core CPI, with the annual pace of core inflation slowing just a tick to 5.5%. "The wide disconnect between markets and Fed on timing and size of rate cuts can still pose volatility to FX markets especially when markets unwind dovish expectations to realign with the Fed," said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC. Also on investors' minds is the Fed's banking survey results due later in the day as the world's largest economy continues to face turmoil in its banking sector and "any upside for EM Asia currencies will be limited given the softening risk appetite," said Ken Cheung, chief Asia currency strategist at Mizuho Bank.
In Asia, central banks have taken different monetary policy paths in recent months as they deal with diverse inflation and economic growth factors. Indonesia paused its rate-hiking cycle in the past three months while the central bank in the Philippines raised its benchmark interest rate to 6.25% in its fight against inflation. But with inflation on track to settle within the government's 2% to 4% target in the fourth quarter and with prices easing further in April, more factors are in place for a pause in the country's 10-month tightening cycle. Stocks in Thailand rose 0.7%, leading gains among its Southeast Asian peers while the baht posted its sharpest fall in more than a month.
Voters in Thailand cast early ballots in elections which
could upset the status quo of a conservative pro-military
government led by former army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha who is
trailing far behind opposition parties in recent opinion polls. Highlights
** Indonesia's forex reserves drop to $144.2 bln at
end-April
** Singapore's central bank imposes additional capital
requirement on DBS Bank
** Chinese scour Thailand for homes, looking to offset risks
after pandemic Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0413 GMT
COUNTR FX RIC FX FX IND STOC STOC
Y DAILY YTD EX KS KS
% % DAIL YTD
Y % %
Japan +0.01 -2.7 <.N -0.7 12.5
4 225 7 1
>
China <CNY=CF -0.10 -0.2 <.S 1.56 9.62
XS> 2 SEC
>
India <INR=IN +0.11 +1.2 <.N 0.60 0.40
> 4 SEI
>
Indone -0.20 +5.8 <.J -0.2 -1.1
sia 8 KSE 0 1
>
Malays -0.02 -0.8 <.K 0.04 -4.2
ia 1 LSE 7
>
Philip +0.05 +0.7 <.P 0.38 2.20
pines 4 SI>
S.Kore <KRW=KF +0.08 -4.3 <.K 0.77 12.6
a TC> 3 S11 9
>
Singap +0.00 +1.1 <.S -0.1 0.32
ore 6 TI> 5
Taiwan <TWD=TP -0.05 +0.1 <.T 0.56 11.1
> 7 WII 4
>
Thaila <THB=TH -0.63 +1.9 <.S 0.65 -7.5
nd > 5 ETI 1
>
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline
Wong)
