Most Asian currencies stumbled on Wednesday with the Korean won destined for its biggest fall in nearly eight weeks as North Korea warned it is "carefully examining" plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam. The won was trading down 0.6 percent at 1134.8 at 0556 GMT.
North Korea's reference to an attack on Guam followed after President Donald Trump said the US would respond to threats from North Korea with "fire and fury". "We have been down this road before, until the fireworks happen it will remain in the headlines, but in the past the markets have faded these types of moves. I think we have to be really sensitive to both liquidity conditions and further headline risk over the next 24 hours," said Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA.
"China basically buttresses the North Korea economy from top to bottom. We are going to have international pressures from the US and all the developed-world leaders who see this escalating a bit too far. I think there is going to be pressure on China to make some serious economic sanctions towards North Korea until they give up the plot of military escalation."
Amid these geopolitical tensions the greenback weakened against the yen which rose to levels unseen in about 8 weeks. The rupee and the Indonesian rupiah edged lower, as much as 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the yuan rose 0.2 percent to its highest since October 2016, and is headed for its third consecutive day of gains.
China's annual producer price inflation held steady and consumer inflation slowed marginally in July as prices for key raw materials rose slightly. "We have to be careful in markets like today with one of the big trading centers on holiday. Liquidity is quite taxing in the market space right now amongst emerging markets. If you look at the typical depth of the market in August it has just been not too buoyant," Innes said.
Singapore markets are closed for a national holiday. The Philippine peso followed the downward trend in the broader market and fell by as much as 0.5 percent. The peso, on its third straight day in negative territory, is headed for its worst fall in nearly 8 weeks. The International Monetary Fund said the Philippine economy is likely to grow at 6.6 percent this year, down from the 6.8 percent growth forecast announced in February.