Indonesia's rupiah hits 4-month low as US bond yields rise

Indonesia's rupiah fell to a four-month low on Friday as rising US bond yields sent the dollar higher and hit appetite for Asia's emerging currency and stock markets.

Stock markets in Asia suffered early falls following overnight comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated that the Fed's policy stance as appropriate, even though he thought the recent bond sell-off was "notable".

By midday, Asian markets recovered some ground, with most standing less than half a percent lower, while Seoul was down 0.6%.

"Any fallout has been limited in Asia thus far thanks to China," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA.

China set a more than 6% growth target for 2021 at its parliamentary meeting, having skipped a target last year due to the pandemic.

Stocks in China eased off session lows and were down 0.3%, while the yuan was flat.

The Chinese government aimed to create more jobs in 2021 than it did last year.

China's GDP expanded 2.3% last year, the only major economy to see growth, as it was the first to emerge from the pandemic.

Indonesia's central bank said it was ready to intervene in the market to keep the weakening rupiah steady.

The currency was down 0.3% on Friday.

Yields on Indonesian 10-year bonds rose 3.50 basis points to 6.641%, while stocks dipped 0.1%. Indonesia has some of the highest-yielding debt in emerging markets.

In the Philippines, the central bank said a spike in inflation to its fastest rate in 26 months was temporary, suggesting it was not in a rush to reverse its accommodative monetary policy stance.

Stocks and the peso were flat.