BENGALURU: Most emerging Asian currencies rose on Thursday as the US dollar gave up some overnight gains, while most Asian shares fell as investors refrained from taking fresh bets ahead of key US data that could shed light on the Fed’s easing cycle.
The Malaysian ringgit gained as much as 0.6% to 4.316 per dollar, near its early 2023 highs and bringing its year-to-date gains to about 6.3%.
It has rebounded from a 26-year low hit a few months ago to become the region’s best-performing currency on expectations of strong economic growth and robust foreign investments.
Among other currencies, the Thai baht, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, and Chinese yuan were trading 0.2% to 0.3% higher.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against six rivals, failed to sustain its overnight strength, dropping about 0.1% to 100.96.
“It has been a consolidative week for FX markets and we expect the same today. The fact that all the Asian currencies have benefited this month provides us some comfort that we are seeing a meaningful dollar adjustment,” analysts from ING wrote in a note.
Investors await a key US inflation reading on Friday in what has been an otherwise data-light week that has largely kept currencies drifting in narrow ranges.
That caution also kept equities on tenterhooks, with benchmarks in Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur and Beijing down between 0.3% and 1%.
The tech-heavy benchmarks of Seoul and Taipei ended 1% and 0.8% lower, respectively, after AI-bellwether Nvidia’s quarterly forecasts failed to meet investors’ lofty expectations.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Asia’s most valuable stock, finished 2.2% lower while South Korea’s SK Hynix, an Nvidia supplier, slid 5.4%.
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