BENGALURU: Asian currencies and stocks were little changed on Tuesday under pressure from a steady dollar, as investor focus turned to the much-anticipated US inflation data for further clues on interest rate outlook.
Traders remained wary ahead of the upcoming core US inflation data, with consumer prices expected to have risen by 0.3% last month, down from 0.4% in March, according to a Reuters poll.
A slowdown in inflationary pressures from March could boost wagers the Federal Reserve will cut rates as soon as July, and could potentially nudge US Treasury yields and the greenback lower.
Back in Asia, the Indonesian rupiah slipped 0.3% to 16,130 against the dollar, set for its second consecutive day of losses.
The rupiah has dropped about 4.6% this year and is one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia.
The Philippine central bank is set to announce its monetary policy decision on Thursday, with expectations leaning towards no change in interest rates.
The peso was unchanged at 57.790 per US dollar, hovering close to the 58-per-dollar level it last touched in November 2022.
“We think that BSP could start to intervene if USDPHP spikes sharply closer to the 58 or 59 levels,” analysts at MUFG wrote, referring to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
In South Korea, the won, considered a “high-beta” currency due to its deep volatility and exposure to the global economy, pared early losses and stood flat at 1369.1 per dollar.
DBS analysts expect higher profits for Korean chipmakers due to the AI-driven chip boom to stoke foreign equity inflows and support the won.
The regional equity markets traded in flat-to-low ranges, and were largely mixed. Thai, Taiwanese and Indian stocks rose between 0.3% and 0.6%.
Shares in Indonesia fell 0.2%, while those in Singapore were flat.
In China, weak domestic credit data stoked concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy, while reports about new US tariffs on its electric vehicles and other strategic sectors further dented confidence.
The USD/CNY currency pair rose 0.1% on Tuesday, heading higher for its third straight session.
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