* Singapore shares rise 2% to hit more than one-year high
* Jardine Strategic, Jardine Matheson boost Singapore shares
* Petronas Chemicals Group top gainer in Malaysia
March 8 (Reuters) - Asian shares broadly reversed course to
trade lower on Monday as higher oil prices raised inflation
worries and offset optimism over the passage of a $1.9 trillion
U.S. stimulus bill, while Singapore and Malaysian stocks rose on
local corporate news.
Equity markets in China .SSEC and the Philippines .PSI
fell more than 1.5%, while in South Korea .KS11 they were
about 1% lower.
Earlier on Monday, Asian shares were broadly higher after
the mammoth U.S. stimulus bill cleared the Senate over the
weekend, boosting optimism about the global economic
recovery. A spike in oil prices past $70 for the first time since the
pandemic, though, sparked some worries about inflation for
energy-hungry Asia. O/R
Broadly, rising prices had already been on investors' minds,
pushing U.S. bond yields higher and keeping pressure on Asia's
bond markets and equity valuations.
"The last thing anyone wants in a recovering global economy
is higher oil prices," said Stephen Innes, the chief global
markets strategist at axi.
"We are likely nearing a point when higher oil prices become
a negative rather than a positive influence over risk assets via
the inflation throughput to higher yields."
The region's currencies came under pressure as the dollar
firmed on the back of stronger-than-expected jobs data and the
pandemic relief bill, on top of higher oil bills. South Korea's
won KRW=KFCTC fell 0.6%.
On the other end, Singapore stocks .STI jumped 2% to their
highest in more than a year, led by a rally in Jardine Strategic
JSH.SI and Jardine Matheson JARD.SI , which climbed nearly
20% and 14%, respectively.
Jardine Matheson said it plans to buy the remaining 15% of
Jardine Strategic that it does not already own for about $5.5
billion to simplify the structure of the sprawling Asian
conglomerate that has a foot in construction to aviation.
In Malaysia, shares .KLSE jumped 1.5%, with Petronas
Chemicals Group PCGB.KL the biggest gainer. The petrochemical
product maker jumped close to 10% after CGS-CIMB upgraded the
stock to "Add" and raised its price target.
Indonesia's shares .JKSE and the rupiah IDR= dipped. The
country is susceptible to higher U.S. yields given that the
Southeast Asian nation houses some of the highest-yield debt in
emerging markets.
The yield on Indonesia's 10-year bonds ID10YT=RR shot up
18.4 basis points to 6.809%.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields up 12.1 basis points
to 5.561%
** Genting Malaysia GENM.KL , Genting Bhd GENT.KL were
among the top gainers in Malaysia
** In the Philippines, Bank of the Philippine Islands
BPI.PS and BDO Unibank Inc BDO.PS fell the most
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0636 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= -0.07 -4.78 .N225 -0.42 4.73
China CNY=CFXS -0.19 +0.30 .SSEC -1.62 -0.80
India INR=IN +0.01 +0.08 .NSEI 0.52 7.40
Indonesia IDR= -0.21 -1.96 .JKSE -0.26 4.40
Malaysia MYR= -0.39 -1.66 .KLSE 1.45 -0.24
Philippines PHP= +0.14 -1.07 .PSI -1.81 -5.36
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.63 -4.15 .KS11 -1.00 4.27
Singapore SGD= -0.18 -1.78 .STI 2.00 8.10
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.81 +1.54 .TWII -0.22 7.38
Thailand THB=TH -0.72 -2.47 .SETI 0.79 7.38