BENGALURU: Equities in Taiwan and South Korea rose on Thursday as chip-related stocks jumped after US chipmaker Nvidia’s outlook beat expectations, while currencies were largely subdued as Federal Reserve’s minutes cemented bets it won’t cut rates soon.
Taiwan shares rose as much as 1.1% to hit a fresh all-time high, while stocks in South Korea added as much as 0.7%.
Nvidia on Wednesday forecast a roughly threefold surge in quarterly revenue that handily beat estimates on towering demand for its industry-leading artificial-intelligence chips.
Other stock markets were mixed, with Thailand stocks gaining as much as 0.5%, while Malaysian shares lost 0.5%.
Currencies in the region remained tepid after minutes of Fed’s Jan. 30-31 meeting showed that policymakers were concerned about the risks of cutting interest rates too soon, with broad uncertainty about how long borrowing costs should remain at their current level.
The Malaysian ringgit was largely flat, and trading at lows not seen since the Asian Financial Crisis as outflows, foreign currency hoarding and a strong dollar pile on pressure.
It touched 4.801 to the dollar on Wednesday, its weakest since January 1998.
“Some of the drivers of ringgit weakness are temporary. We expect the USD to weaken once the Fed eventually cuts rates, providing respite for the ringgit,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.
In South Korea, the central bank left interest rates at a 15-year high amid signs that the weaker economy is slowing inflation. Recent inflation prints in Asian economies have shown easing price trends, giving central banks some breathing room.
This comes a day after Indonesia’s central bank also kept policy rates steady, as expected, and reiterated it would likely have room to cut borrowing costs in the second half of the year.
