Most Asian currencies climb; peso drops

Most Asian currencies edged up on Thursday taking cues from the yuan, though the Philippine peso fell on disappointing economic growth data. The Philippine growth pace in the second quarter was the lowest in nearly three years. China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.1 percent in July from a year earlier, beating expectations but still within the government's comfort zone of 3 percent.
"Taken together with trade yesterday, (the China data) implies the economy is doing a little bit better than people thought," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at FX provider AxiTrader. China on Wednesday reported that its July exports rose more than expected, suggesting fresh US tariffs imposed last month have not yet had a significant impact on global demand for its goods. The yuan was up 0.2 percent at 0611 GMT on Thursday, helping bolster other emerging Asian currencies.
South Korea's won climbed 0.2 percent to its firmest in over a week, while the Indonesian rupiah also touched its highest in more than a week, up 0.1 percent. Thailand's baht climbed 0.2 percent to its strongest in two weeks and the Taiwan dollar was also up 0.1 percent. However, analysts said the firmer yuan against the US dollar may not last, with focus shifting to US inflation data for July due on Friday.
"If (US) CPI is high and it increases expectations about Fed timing then I would expect the current yuan stability to prove ephemeral," said McKenna, referring to the timing of possible interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.1 percent.
The Philippine peso weakened 0.3 percent following the data on economic growth in the country. The peso has dropped nearly 6 percent so far this year, making it the second-worst performer in the region behind the Indian rupee. The country's central bank is due to meet later in the day amid expectations of more policy tightening. It raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in May and again in June, looking to tame inflation and shore up the peso, which has been battered by concerns over a widening current account deficit and capital outflows.