Stocks and the currency of Indonesia, the world's top thermal coal exporter, fell on Thursday as coal prices skid amid signs of Chinese intervention, while the Malaysian bourse eased too after news of US regulatory action on a glove maker.
Asian currencies were mixed with Singapore's dollar, the Thai baht and the Philippine peso trading flat to lower against a steady dollar, while their equities made modest gains.
The mood has been sombre after debt-laden China Evergrande Group's deal to sell a stake in its property services unit fell through this week, reviving concerns about a crisis at the country's high-yield real estate sector.
Evergrande has, however, secured an extension on a defaulted bond, financial provider REDD reported, offering rare respite to the developer.
Resuming trade after a holiday, Indonesia's rupiah fell 0.4% to 14,130 per dollar, as China's thermal coal futures extended losses run up since Tuesday when Beijing signalled it might intervene to cool soaring coal prices.
Jakarta shares slipped with energy stocks leading the decline.
High coal prices this year have boosted Indonesia's trade balance and supported the currency, which has risen 3.5% since July. Equities have also been trading close to a record top.
"Rupiah has strengthened quite a bit and it's giving back some gains. The coal situation is more of an excuse to reduce long rupiah positions," Bank of Singapore FX analyst Moh Siong Sim said.
Bank Indonesia does not want the currency to appreciate too much and long-term equity inflows could potentially offset the hit from a drop in coal prices, he added.
In Malaysia, gains in palm oil stocks were countered by a slide in glove makers on the benchmark index after the United States barred imports from Supermax Corp over alleged forced labour practices.
While Supermax is not part of the benchmark, the news triggered a 3.9% and 2.8% drop in shares of Top Glove Corp, world's biggest latex glove maker that faced a similar ban last year, and Hartalega Holdings.
Supermax plunged 10%.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.4% after data showed its 20-day exports soared 36%, easing some concerns about supply-chain disruptions caused by the energy crisis in neighbouring China.
Fellow tech exporting region Taiwan's stocks also firmed 0.3%.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 0.6 basis points at 6.215%
** Singapore's 5-year benchmark yield is down 3.60 basis points at 1.216%
** Top gainers on the Singapore STI include Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd, up 1.57% and Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, up 1.32%
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