BENGALURU: Emerging Asian equities edged higher on Friday after a selloff in the previous session, while Singapore stocks recouped some losses after hitting three-month lows as concerns over the impact of higher bond yields on bank earnings persisted. The MSCI EM Asia equities index edged 0.5 percent higher after losing nearly 2 percent on Thursday.
Markets in South Korea and Taiwan, which together account for more than half of the index, were closed for national holidays.
Singapore’s benchmark equity index recouped most of their losses to trade flat, after slipping as much 0.8 percent earlier in the day. The index, however, was on track to end the week with a nearly 4 percent loss, its weakest performance since early April.
DBS Group, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, clawed back some losses to trade down 0.4 percent, its lowest since early August. Smaller rival United Overseas Bank followed suit, down 0.6 percent, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp reversed course to edge 0.4 percent higher. The three banks account for more than half of Singapore’s benchmark index. Combined, they are on track to lose USD27 billion in value over the past three trading sessions.
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