Asian FX, stocks rise on improved sentiment, yuan recovers

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Most Asian currencies and shares rose

on Wednesday, as investor confidence improved globally on the

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possibility the U.S. Federal Reserve could slow down the pace of

hikes after softer economic data in the United States, while

Chinese yuan pared its losses.

The yuan staged a recovery, snapping a four-day

losing streak to trade almost 0.1% higher, after it was reported

that some Chinese state-owned banks had sold dollars in onshore

and offshore markets to curtail the beaten-down currency’s fall.

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The currency was trading 7.2695 per dollar at 0713 GMT.

The investor mood in Asia’s largest economy remained sour,

after President Xi Jinping’s new leadership team was revealed,

which eroded sentiment for Chinese assets.

Some investors fear coming years could see a greater focus

on ideology-driven policy rather than economic growth, and there

are no signs the government will soon ease its tough zero-COVID

stance.

Shares in Beijing rose 0.5%.

“The overall environment around Chinese equities could still

remain cautious until we are able to see further follow-up in

supportive measures, but it could still take a significant

deviation from current policies to reassure markets of a more

sustained growth ahead,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist

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from IG Markets.

The yuan has fallen about 0.4% in the week and has recorded

a nearly 12.5% decline against the greenback on a year-to-date

basis.

In the U.S., consumer confidence for October took a hit,

after rising for two consecutive months, signaling the

aggressive rate hike path of the Federal Reserve has begun to

work its way through the economy and could lead to a shift in

narrative.

Globally, markets have priced in another 75-basis-point hike

at the U.S. Fed’s Nov. 1-2 meeting, while there are hopes for a

lesser rate increase in December.

At 0713 GMT, the dollar index, which measures the strength

of the greenback against six other major currencies, was at

110.74.

This induced a rally across other Asian currencies, with the

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South Korean won, Indonesan rupiah and the

Malaysian ringgit gaining in the range of 0.2% and 0.7%

Softer industrial production data from Singapore did not

deter its currency from firming about 0.1%

“So now, Asian FX will just enjoy the dollar’s sideways

movement and risk-on sentiment until markets receive more data

on U.S. inflation and labor market as well as comments from

Fed’s officials,” Poon Panichpibool, a market strategist from

Krung Thai bank said.

Among Asian equities, shares in South Korea,

Singapore, Taiwan and Philippines rose

between 0.3% to 0.7%

Markets in India were closed due to a public holiday.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields fall to 7.637%

** Singapore c.bank proposes measures on crypto trading,

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stablecoin

** Thai Sept exports rise 7.8% y/y, beat forecast

** South Korea’s business sentiment dips for services sector

– c.bank survey

Asia stock indexes and

currencies at 0719 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS

DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD %

%

Japan +0.25 -22.0 #VALUE #VALUE

0 ! !

China 5

India +0.00 -10.1 -0.42 1.74

5

Indonesi +0.22 -8.57 0.10 7.21

a

Malaysia +0.32 -11.7 0.37 -7.52

4

Philippi +0.15 -12.9 0.79 -14.06

nes 1

S.Korea 7

Singapor +0.29 -4.47 0.72 -3.78

e

Taiwan +0.21 -14.1 0.50 -30.13

4

Thailand +0.66 -11.5 -0.05 -3.49

6

(Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna

Chandra Eluri)