The Thai baht hit a two-week low on Monday and other emerging Asian currencies, edging lower after the West slapped fresh sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian rouble lost nearly 30% against the dollar in the wake of the sanction announced over the weekend, wich included blocking some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system, as well as targeting Russia's central bank and currency reserves.
The baht lost as much as 1%, adding to last week's near 1% drop, and hitting its weakest since Feb. 9. Data also showed Thailand's January factory output rose less than expected.
Other currencies were also weaker, with Singapore's dollar and the South Korean won easing 0.5% each.
Regional markets experienced heightened volatility over the last week as the military crisis dampened risk sentiment, sent oil prices soaring and made safe haven bets like the US dollar and gold more appealing to investors.
Thai baht, Indian rupee lead Asia FX gains; stocks rebound
"The escalating crisis in the Ukraine will force markets to price in a substantially higher geopolitical risk premium as they weigh the financial fallout from sanctions and the global growth and inflation impacts," Westpac strategists said in a note.
"The prospect of an abrupt Fed tightening cycle will have to take a backseat to events in Ukraine for now."
The yuan, which has anchored regional currencies in recent times against the risk of steep losses amid the US Federal Reserve's hawkish view on interest rates and policy, gained about 0.1% on Monday and cushioned its peers.
In India, the rupee jumped 0.5%, rebounding somewhat after last week's 0.9% loss, but stocks tumbled 1.5%, as investors awaited fourth-quarter gross domestic product data.
Analysts expect the economy to have lost steam during the quarter, due to disruptions from the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Other share markets in the region remained mixed. Philippine stocks surged more than 1% after a steep drop last week, while Singapore's FTSE Strait Times index fell more than 2%, in tandem with global markets.
Thai stocks, which sank nearly 2% last week, advanced 0.2%. The country's national shippers' council on Friday forecast first-quarter exports to rise more than their earlier estimate.
Markets in Taiwan and Indonesia were closed for a public holiday.
Highlights:
** Russia's bond yields closed at 12.46% on Friday, trading yet to resume.
** Thai Beverage and DBS Group top drags among Singapore stocks.
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