Asian currencies: Indonesia rupiah hits weakest since early May

BENGALURU: The Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso led declines among weak emerging Asian currencies on Wednesday, as higher US benchmark Treasury yields lifted the dollar, while investors remained wary of an important inflation reading that could drive global monetary policy.

Most Asian currencies were also set to log monthly losses due to resilient economic data in the world’s largest economy that has led markets to significantly pare back rate cut bets.

The rupiah fell as much as 0.5% to trade at 16,165 per dollar, hitting its weakest since May 2, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield inched to a two-week high of 6.943%.

The Philippines peso also fell about 0.5%, lingering near the previous week’s low, while the Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit , Taiwan dollar and Thai baht traded between flat and 0.4% down.

Friday’s personal consumption expenditures reading - the Fed’s preferred gauge for inflation - will take centre-stage among investors, which is expected to steady on a monthly basis. The print will also decide the interest rate path the Fed is likely to adopt in the near term.

Markets are pricing in about a 45% chance of 25 basis points cut in September, as compared with 51.6% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

“USD remains supported by a Fed caution to cut rates too early. Nevertheless, we continue to see USD as a sell on rally and think that the other stretched pairs such as USD/KRW or USD/TWD could be worth looking at,” analysts from Maybank said in a client note.

Most Asian equities were trading in the red as well, with shares in Seoul losing about 1.3%, while others in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur , Manila and Bangkok traded between 0.3% and 1.4% lower.

The chip-heavy Taipei benchmark, which had hit multiple record highs in the recent past, took a breather during the day, falling about 0.6%.