BENGALURU: Emerging Asian stocks and currencies retreated on Thursday, with Indonesian assets leading the decline, weighed down by oil-driven inflation risks and sharply higher US Treasury yields.
MSCI’s gauge of emerging Asia equities slipped 0.8 percent, with benchmarks in Indonesia and India leading the decline, with drops of as much as 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Oil prices climbed nearly 4 percent overnight after Iran’s president vowed never to surrender in the face of US pressure, although they pared gains after Iran said it remained open to diplomacy.
Stocks in Manila fell 1.1 percent to their lowest since November 2025, while those in Thailand were down 0.3 percent.
Taiwan’s chip-heavy benchmark slipped 0.3 percent, ending a six-session winning streak. Semiconductor foundry giant TSMC retreated 1 percent, with analysts attributing the decline to profit taking after sharp gains.
South Korea’s stock market was closed for the Chuseok holiday.
MSCI’s index of emerging market currencies was trading down 0.3 percent, also weighed down by oil prices.
Currencies of energy importing countries such as the Philippine peso, the Indian rupee and the Thai baht drifted between 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent lower.
The Indonesian rupiah led declines, weakening as much as 0.6 percent to 17,907 against the dollar, its lowest since early August.
The rupiah is the worst performing currency in the region this year, down around 6.8 percent as fuel subsidies have piled onto long-festering concerns about policymaking, fiscal spending, and central bank independence.
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