By Shreya Mariam Job
Feb 21 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies slipped on Friday, with the South Korean won leading declines, as a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases outside mainland China sent investors scurrying to safer assets such as the U.S. dollar.
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC fell 0.6% after the country reported 52 new cases of the fast-spreading virus and data showed exports to China in the first 20 days of February slumped 3.7%.
"Continued rise in contagion could warrant a re-assessment of the macro fallout on Korea in terms of both supply chain disruption and inbound tourism," Maybank said in a note.
The won has lost 2% this week, the most among its peers, and was on track to snap two weekly gains as the outbreak upends global growth and supply chains.
In Taiwan, one of the economies most exposed to the outbreak, export orders in January fell by their steepest in nearly seven years, data showed on Thursday.
The Taiwan dollar TWD=TP weakened 0.3% and was set to lose more than 1% for the week.
The rising economic toll of the virus and its rapid spread outside China prompted investors to seek shelter in the dollar =USD, which hovered near a three-year peak hit overnight.
The Malaysian ringgit MYR=MY slipped 1.4% for the week, its biggest weekly drop since November 2016.
The Thai baht THB=TH lost 0.5% and was on track to post a weekly drop of 1.4%. Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is among those hit hardest by the outbreak, prompting the country's central bank to lower growth forecasts earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah IDR= slipped 0.3%. The country's central bank lowered its key policy interest rate on Thursday, in a bid to cushion the blow from the epidemic, which also pushed Bank Indonesia to cut this year's economic growth outlook.
Financial markets in India were closed for a holiday.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0555 GMT
Currency
Latest bid
Previous day
Pct Move
Japan yen
111.940
112.11
+0.15
Sing dlr
1.400
1.4006
+0.03
Taiwan dlr
30.358
30.254
-0.34
Korean won
1206.200
1198.7
-0.62
Baht
31.630
31.47
-0.51
Peso
50.770
50.76
-0.02
Rupiah
13745.000
13700
-0.33
Ringgit
4.193
4.183
-0.31
Yuan
7.033
7.0230
-0.14
Change so far in 2020
Currency
Latest bid
End 2019
Pct Move
Japan yen
111.940
108.61
-2.97
Sing dlr
1.400
1.3444
-3.99
Taiwan dlr
30.358
30.106
-0.83
Korean won
1206.200
1156.40
-4.13
Baht
31.630
29.91
-5.44
Peso
50.770
50.65
-0.24
Rupiah
13745.000
13880
+0.98
Rupee
71.650
71.38
-0.38
Ringgit
4.193
4.0890
-2.55
Yuan
7.033
6.9632
-0.99
(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
((ShreyaMariam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
"asian" - Google News
February 21, 2020 at 01:46PM
https://ift.tt/39Su09h
EM ASIA FX-Most Asian units slip as virus spread pushes investors to safer assets - Nasdaq
"asian" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2STmru2
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment