(April 13): Emerging Asian currencies fell on Monday, led by the Thai baht and Philippine peso, as failed US-Iran peace talks and the US plans to blockade Iranian maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz weighed on markets exposed to oil price shocks.
Oil prices climbed back above US$100 a barrel, as the US move to block ships to and from Iran via the strait heightened supply concerns.
The Indonesian rupiah slipped to a new lifetime low of 17,135 per dollar, while the Philippine peso once again breached the key 60-per-dollar mark, and the Thai baht weakened to 32.410 per dollar.
“The corollary is that a meaningful resumption of flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz looks much less likely now,” MUFG analyst Michael Wan wrote in a note.
“Asian currencies, especially energy importers such as the Indian rupee, the Philippine peso, and the Thai baht, are likely to be on the back foot for now.”
Singapore’s dollar slipped to 1.2759 per greenback and the city-state’s benchmark equity index inched lower a day ahead of the central bank’s monetary policy decision.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is expected to tighten policy on Tuesday as the Middle East war drives up energy prices, stoking inflation and darkening the growth outlook at home and abroad.
“The recent increase in oil prices and broader commodity volatility warrant a tightening response via slope increase, earlier rather than later,” OCBC analysts said in a note.
In Hungary, the forint shot up against the US dollar and the euro as investors bet on a boost for the economy following a resounding election defeat for nationalist Viktor Orban after 16 years in power.
The forint rose around 2% to 367.67 per euro in thin Asia trade, touching an almost three-year peak, and gained about 1.7% to 314.04 per dollar, the highest in more than four years.
Equities in emerging Asia were mainly in the red, with the Philippine stock index down as much as 2% and Malaysia’s benchmark gauge 0.9% lower.
The AI-darling of East Asia, South Korea’s Kospi index, tumbled as much as 2.2%, while Taiwan’s tech-heavy gauge traded largely flat.
Stocks in Jakarta were the outlier, gaining nearly 1% on Monday, with Chandra Asri rising 10.3% after reporting record quarterly net profit of US$205 million (RM814.6 million).
Thailand’s stock market was closed for a holiday.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
