BENGALURU: Emerging Asian stock markets retreated on Monday, driven by a downturn in South Korea after last week’s short-lived rally dissipated, while weakness in the dollar helped regional currencies appreciate modestly.
MSCI’s EM Asia equities gauge fell 1.3 percent, after posting its largest one-day surge in more than 17 years on Friday.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 5.1 percent after a historic 17.9 percent climb on Friday.
Investors have been caught in a tug-of-war between blockbuster US tech earnings and rising fears that massive AI spending will delay quick returns on their investments.
Taiwan’s benchmark index, another market dominated by artificial intelligence, finished up 0.6 percent despite a 2.3 percent fall in major semiconductor player TSMC.
Singapore stocks slipped 0.5 percent, moving further away from the record high of 5,713.19 touched last week.
Elsewhere, stocks in Manila rose as much as 1.7 percent, helped by a more than 4 percent rise in heavyweight International Container Terminal Services after it posted a 25 percent increase in annual recurring net income.
The Philippine peso appreciated to a more than one-month high of 60.90 per dollar as oil prices slumped after US President Donald Trump held off on a fresh attack on Iran to make way for a quick deal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Currencies of other energy-importing nations followed suit, with the Indian rupee appreciating to a near one-month high and the Thai baht edging 0.2 percent higher.
The South Korean won rose as high as 1,425 per US dollar, extending last week’s 1.6 percent gain. Reuters reported that both Seoul and Tokyo had stepped in on Thursday to buy their currencies in a rare intervention that marked an escalation in efforts to stem weakness.
The Japanese yen rose 1 percent in Asian trade to a high of 155.20 per dollar, keeping traders on alert for further intervention.
Comments