BENGALURU: Most Asian currencies depreciated on Tuesday, with the Philippine peso and South Korean won leading losses amid a firmer dollar, while stocks struggled for direction as investors remained cautious ahead of regional inflation prints.
The Thai baht, the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah slipped 0.3% each.
The dollar index was trading higher at 105.9 amid heightened bets of Donald Trump winning the US presidency.
The South Korean won weakened 0.3% while stocks in Seoul were set to snap a two-day winning streak with a 0.8% drop, as a rise in US Treasury yields weighed on sentiment.
South Korea’s consumer inflation weakened to an 11-month low in June as supply-side pressures eased, an official data showed on Tuesday.
The report came in after data on Monday showed inflation in Indonesia had eased more than expected for June.
“It is clear that inflation has moderated gradually over the past three months, as headline inflation has fallen from a recent high of 3.1% in February,” analysts at ING said in a client note.
“As a result, we believe that the Bank of Korea will shift its communication tone from hawkish to neutral from its July meeting,” they said.
Among other regional markets, Taipei stocks lost 0.7% on the back of falling US chipmakers. Shares of chipmaker giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing dropped 0.5%.
Stocks in Bangkok slumped 0.8%, while those in India advanced 0.4%.
Singapore stocks gained as much as 0.6% to touch their highest levels in 11 months.
Investors now await inflation readings from Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines this week to get a clearer picture of the regional price pressure.
Traders will also look for cues on rate cuts when US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at an event later in the day.
The US Fed could afford to wait for a couple more inflation and jobs reports before considering a rate cut, said Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank.
“So for now, with the Fed not going to do anything on the policy rate, Asian central banks will have to wait out for the time-being.
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