Indian rupee, stocks lead losses in Asia; Singapore bond yields slip

SINGAPORE: Most Asian emerging market currencies and stocks fell on Wednesday, led by the Indian rupee and equities after GDP data missed expectations, while overall sentiment was muted over concerns about the impact of Western sanctions on Russia.

The Indian rupee fell 0.5%, while the NSE benchmark Nifty fell 1.7%. South Korea’s won also fell 0.3%, after the country joined many Western nations in announcing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Partly owing to the Russia-Ukraine escalations, equities in Asia saw net capital outflows for the second consecutive month in February. South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India saw a total outflow of $6.9 billion last month.

This has boosted demand for safer assets including bonds, with yields in Singapore shedding 81 basis points to hit a near one-month low of 1.792%. Bond yields in Indonesia, however, saw their sharpest spike in nearly a month, jumping 18 basis points to 6.528%.

“Singapore bonds are perceived as Asia’s safe-haven assets. Capital fleeing into Singapore bonds from Indonesian bonds underscores fragile market sentiment,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX.

Bond yields in India also ticked up 4 basis points to 6.810%, after data late on Monday showed that the economy grew at a slower pace in the December quarter, adding 5.4% and undershooting market expectations. Equity markets in Asia, which slightly rebounded earlier this week, were back to losses, with markets in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines falling between 0.7% and 1.4%.