BENGALURU: Emerging Asian currencies retreated on Friday as the US dollar and Treasury yields strengthened after stronger than expected inflation data increased the likelihood of interest rates remaining restrictive for longer.
—The Malaysian ringgit led losses, sliding 0.4%, on track for its worst day since Oct. 2. The Philippine peso retreated 0.3% while the Indonesian rupiah fell 0.2%.
For the week, the Malaysian ringgit was on track to for its seventh week of declines while the Indonesian rupaih was heading towards extending its weekly decline to a sixth week.—-
Shares in Asia retreated with equities in South Korea falling 0.9% while equities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan slid between 0.2% and 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the Singapore dollar edged 0.1% higher after the central bank kept its monetary policy unchanged with inflation moderating and economic growth beating expectations.
Singapore equities slid 0.9%.
“Given the growth and inflation outlook, this decision strikes a balance between continuing to ensure medium-term price stability and the uncertain growth prospects for Singapore moving forward,” analysts at Maybank said in a note.
India’s retail inflation eased to a three-month low in September while other data pointed to its industrial output growing at its fastest in more than a year in August, data showed on Thursday. Equities in Mumbai fell 0.7% while the rupee was largely unchanged.
Markets await a slew of economic data from China next week, including gross domestic product and retail sales data.
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