BENGALURU: The Indonesian rupiah firmed in thin trading on Wednesday after the country’s finance minister took a cautious stance on the timing of foreign currency bond issuance, in view of rising interest rates globally.
The rupiah rose 0.2% - tracking its best day in nearly three weeks - as Finance Minister Mulyani Indrawati also said that the economic activity in the first quarter should not be affected too much by a new wave of COVID-19 cases, because vaccination rates were now higher than in earlier waves.
Shares in Jakarta climbed more than 1%, with the country’s annual inflation rate rising to 2.18% in January, to be within the central bank’s 2% to 4% target range for the first time in nearly two years.
China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan were all closed due to public holidays.
The Thai baht and Philippines peso were both down between 0.1% and 0.4% against a weaker dollar.
But the benchmark Philippine stock index rose nearly 2%, set for its best day in three weeks.
Japanese stocks rose 1.6%, tracking Wall Street’s rally overnight on improved risk appetite. The yen, however, stayed flat in holiday-thinned Asia trade.
Indian shares rose nearly 1%, extending a post-budget rally, after the government stepped up spending to put growth on a firmer footing.
The Singapore dollar was flat, with the country’s stock markets also closed for a public holiday.
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