Asian currencies: Philippine peso, South Korean won fall

BENGALURU: Asian currencies were largely subdued as the US dollar recouped some of its losses from the last two sessions.

The Philippine peso and South Korean won slipped marginally by 0.2%. Malaysian ringgit was the only outlier, adding more than 0.2%, while the Indonesian rupiah was largely unchanged after annual economic growth in the country beat expectations in the second quarter.

Asian equities rose on Tuesday, led by South Korea and Taiwan stocks, as investors piled into riskier regional assets on hopes the US Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy after last week’s dismal jobs report.

Shares in Taipei rose as much as 1.1% to the highest level since February 21, while those in Seoul rose as much as 2.1% to mark the best session since late June. Vietnam’s stock index jumped more than 2.5% to a record high of 1,567.8 points.

Equity markets in Jakarta added 0.2%, while those in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok added more than 0.5%, respectively. Japan’s Nikkei rallied, with data showing a jump in the nation’s service sector activity in July.

US equity benchmarks posted their strongest single-day rallies in over two months on Monday, with bargain hunters driving the rebound from Friday’s losses after the jobs data.