BENGALURU: Emerging Asian stock markets lost momentum on Tuesday, as South Korean shares gave up early gains on profit-taking, while risks of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East lifted oil prices and kept investors cautious.
The MSCI gauge of EM Asia equities, dominated by South Korea and Taiwan, slipped 0.4 percent after gaining nearly 1 percent earlier in the session.
South Korea’s KOSPI ended 0.6 percent lower after advancing 2.5 percent in intraday trade to hit its highest since mid-August.
Taiwan’s benchmark stock index closed nearly 0.5 percent lower after touching an 11-week high in intraday trade.
Stocks in Jakarta and Manila rose as much as 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Singapore shares slipped 0.7 percent and were headed for a second straight session of losses after gaining nearly 1.8 percent last week. Thai stocks edged higher to clock their fourth consecutive session of gains.
Among currencies, the Philippine peso saw some relief after weakening to a record low of 62.763 per US dollar on Monday. Market participants expect high oil prices to keep the currency under pressure.
Elsewhere, the Singapore dollar and Indonesia’s rupiah gained marginally, while the Malaysian ringgit weakened nearly 0.3 percent to 4.057 per US dollar, its lowest in nearly three weeks.
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