Most Asian currencies were tepid on Thursday amid concerns over feeble oil demand and expectations of dire manufacturing and services survey data out of the United States and euro zone, while the Indonesian rupiah slid as much as 1%.

The rupiah fell for a second straight session as the central bank made its first direct government bond purchase this week to limit the recent rise in bond yields after several bouts of heavy selling by foreign investors.

The currency is particularly hard-hit due to its yield differential factor versus the dollar, said Jingyi Pan, a Singapore-based analyst at IG.

The South Korean won was little changed after the country reported its steepest economic contraction since 2008 in the first quarter as self-isolation measures hit consumption and global trade slumped.

The Chinese yuan and the Philippine peso were flat, while the Singapore dollar put on 0.2%.

The Indian rupee defied trends as it gained 0.7% to see its best day in more than two weeks.

The near-term outlook for the currency brightened after Facebook said on Wednesday it would spend $5.7 billion to buy a stake in Reliance Industries' digital arm.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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