BENGALURU: Philippine assets remained weak on Thursday after the central bank hiked its key rate by a quarter percentage point, as expected, to combat inflation and support the peso, while South Korean and Taiwan equities closed higher on Nvidia results.
The peso held steady at 61.739 per dollar, lower than the previous session’s close of 61.635, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.00 percent — a third consecutive tightening of policy.
Manila equities remained in the red, last down 2.2 percent, near their lowest since June 11.
The South Korean won traded steady at 1,381.33 per dollar after Bank of Korea lifted its benchmark interest rate to 3.00 percent earlier in the session, along with raising its 2026 economic growth forecast.
The Taiwan dollar, also driven by chip exports, strengthened to 31.719 a dollar, near its strongest level since late June.
Other emerging market currencies were weaker as the US dollar strengthened overnight following inflation and other economic indicators that raised expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike ahead of a Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers later in the day.
South Korean stocks rose 1.5 percent, and Taiwan equities ended 0.3 percent higher. Both benchmarks posted a three-session win streak after Nvidia reported quarterly revenue that more than doubled and forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates.
Equities were mixed in Southeast Asia. Indonesian and Thai stocks climbed 1.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, while those in Singapore shed 0.6 percent.
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