The Indonesian rupiah firmed in thin trading on Wednesday after the country's finance minister took a cautious stance on the timing of foreign currency bond issuance, in view of rising interest rates globally.

The rupiah rose 0.2% - tracking its best day in nearly three weeks - as Finance Minister Mulyani Indrawati also said that the economic activity in the first quarter should not be affected too much by a new wave of COVID-19 cases, because vaccination rates were now higher than in earlier waves.

Shares in Jakarta climbed more than 1%, with the country's annual inflation rate rising to 2.18% in January, to be within the central bank's 2% to 4% target range for the first time in nearly two years.

Asian FX mostly lower; Indonesian rupiah, South Korean won weaken

China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan were all closed due to public holidays.

The Thai baht and Philippines peso were both down between 0.1% and 0.4% against a weaker dollar.

But the benchmark Philippine stock index rose nearly 2%, set for its best day in three weeks.

Japanese stocks rose 1.6%, tracking Wall Street's rally overnight on improved risk appetite. The yen, however, stayed flat in holiday-thinned Asia trade.

Indian shares rose nearly 1%, extending a post-budget rally, after the government stepped up spending to put growth on a firmer footing.

The Singapore dollar was flat, with the country's stock markets also closed for a public holiday.

Highlights

** Top gainers on the Jakarta stock index include MNC Kapital Indonesia Tbk PT up 28.7%, Gaya Abadi Sempurna Tbk PT up 25%

** The Nifty Bank index and the Nifty PSU Bank index led gains among Indian sub-indexes