South Korea's won and Indonesian rupiah gained among mixed Asian currencies on Friday, with the rupiah scaling a near eight-month high supported by the recent surge in energy prices as well as the reopening of its holiday island of Bali to foreign tourists.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy and a major exporter of commodities including thermal coal, is benefiting from a global energy crunch that is pushing coal prices to record levels due to high demand and supply disruptions.
The rupiah is among the best performing currencies in the region, with only a marginal drop so far this year. On Friday, it appreciated 0.3% to scale its highest level since late-February, and was set to add 1% over the week, its best since early September.
"Despite Bali's reopening to visitors from 19 low-risk countries, demand could be the bottle-neck in the short-term.
While we remain cautiously optimistic on rupiah sentiments, its recovery path is likely to remain choppy," analysts at Maybank said in a note.
The benchmark 10-year benchmark yields in Indonesia slipped 8.7 basis points to 6.207%, the lowest since September 24, tracking the global flattening of bond yields.
Indonesia has some of the highest-yielding debt in emerging markets.
Shorter-term US yields have risen over the past two days while longer-dated yields have dipped, which has served to flatten the yield curve, indicating the market is anticipating a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
Investors will also be waiting for Bank of Indonesia's policy meeting next week where the central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady to boost economic recovery, a Reuters poll showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's won appreciated 0.4% to hit an over two-week high, while equities advanced more than a percent to scale a two-week high.
The Bank of Korea governor said it may be possible for the central bank to raise base interest rates at its next review in late November. Earlier this week the central bank kept the rates steady after it hiked its policy rate in August.
Among other currencies, the Philippine peso added 0.2%, while the Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit slipped marginally.
Equities in the region were largely positive, supported by the easing of curbs in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Shares in the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand were up 0.6% each, with stocks in Manila scaling a nine-month high and Singapore stocks touching an over two-month high.
Markets in India, were closed for a holiday.
Highlights:
** US 10-year benchmark yields at 1.5299%, down 8.19 basis points this week
** US 2-year benchmark yields at 0.3621%, up 4.23 basis points this week
** Indonesia trade surplus shrinks less than expected in September
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