BENGALURU: Most emerging Asian currencies ticked higher on Friday while stocks were mixed, as US President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff policy fuelled investor uncertainty in a turbulent week.
The Malaysian ringgit and the Indonesian rupiah gained 0.2% each. The rupiah was on track to rise 1.7% for the week, its biggest weekly gain since mid-September.
Trump on Thursday suspended the 25% tariffs he imposed earlier this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico until April 2 - the day he has threatened to impose a global regime of reciprocal tariffs on all US trading partners.
The Mexican peso rose 0.1%, following its 0.7% jump on Thursday. The US dollar index languished near four-month lows.
The ever-shifting US trade policy has sent global markets into a tailspin. Emerging Asian equity markets faced sizeable foreign investment withdrawals in February, driven by the potential for Trump’s policies to disrupt global economic growth.
“Emerging market asset volatility is likely to remain elevated amid a host of factors that show no sign of letting up,” analysts at Barclays said in a note.
While a loss of US growth momentum may help emerging markets, weaker US demand and tariffs hurt EM assets disproportionately, the analysts said.
The Thai baht was up 0.1%, while Bangkok stocks
jumped 0.5% after data showed inflation rose in line with the central bank’s target range and market expectations in February.
The Philippine peso rose 0.3% while the Taiwan dollar
gained 0.1%. Inflation data from Taiwan is due later in the day.
Stocks in Jakarta were up 0.5% and on course to post a weekly rise of 6.1%, their biggest since March 2020. This follows a 7.8% decline last week.