BENGALURU: Emerging Asian equities rose on Wednesday, with tech-heavy Taiwan and South Korea bourses leading gains as investors reassessed fears of a sharp US economic slowdown, while most currencies were pressured as the dollar regained strength.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 1.7%, continuing to claw back ground after Monday’s global selloff.
Shares in Taiwan surged up to 3.9% in their second day of gains, while those in South Korea gained 1.8%, boosted by heavyweight chipmakers.
Equities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and India added between 1% and 1.4%.
There are signs that the recent volatile unwinding of yen carry trades may be pausing, said Ken Cheung Kin Tai, chief Asian FX strategist, Mizuho Bank.
“In the EM share market, investors are putting their attention back to the fundamentals and catching opportunities to rebuild their positions.”
“Sentiment has been stabilizing, but markets will still remain cautious about the global growth outlook,” he added.
The unravelling of the yen carry trade, coupled with a softer-than-expected US jobs report last week, lukewarm tech earnings and fears of a US recession sparked a global selloff earlier this week with investors dumping riskier assets and moving to safe havens.
Most Asian currencies were on the back foot as the dollar firmed to move further away from the seven-month low it touched on Monday.
The Malaysian ringgit, the only Asian currency to log a year-to-date gain so far, pared early losses and was last down 0.2%.
Thailand’s baht fell 0.2% after the annual headline inflation rate quickened in July, but the pace remained below the central bank’s target range of 1% to 3%.
The Chinese yuan slipped 0.4% as trade data showed robust growth in imports, but weaker-than-expected export growth.
Bucking the trend, Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.8% to its highest level since late May.
“Easing inflation and tamed down UST yields have created expectation of lower Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI) issuance, which have boosted inflows in the local currency and bond market,” Fakhrul Fulvian, an economist at Trimegah Securities, said.
The Philippine peso rose 0.4% to its highest in more than two months. The central bank governor said an interest rate cut at their meeting next week was “little less likely” after annual inflation accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace last month.
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