flaring up again. Other local stories still mattered, but they didn’t set the regional tone. Philippine shares rose even after a security incident near the Senate, while Thailand’s main index extended a rebound after officials talked up a potential return to above-3% growth over the next year or two.
Why should I care?
For markets: A regional index that’s increasingly a chip proxy.
When nearly two-fifths of MSCI EM Asia sits in South Korea and Taiwan, day-to-day moves can end up looking like a referendum on the chip cycle. If Samsung or other big semiconductor names swing, the index can rise even when other markets are mixed. That concentration matters for anyone using “broad emerging Asia” as a single bucket – it may not reflect the typical country in the region.
For you: Trade politics can show up in everyday prices via currencies.
Banks like OCBC, a Singapore lender, have argued that calmer US-China ties can lower the extra “risk premium” investors demand to hold currencies linked to China-heavy supply chains. When that pressure eases, trade-sensitive currencies like the South Korean won, New Taiwan dollar, and Malaysian ringgit can be less jumpy – even with a firm dollar. A steadier exchange rate can help smooth the local-currency cost of dollar-priced imports such as electronics, though it doesn’t eliminate price increases if the dollar keeps strengthening.
