* China Q1 GDP shrinks in-line with expectations
* IDR hits 1-month high
* India cenbank cuts reverse repo rate by 25 bps
* Singapore March exports jump; analysts caution on future
growth
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Anushka Trivedi
April 17 (Reuters) - Asian currencies advanced against a
weaker dollar on Friday, with the Indonesian rupiah leading
gains, as U.S. President Donald Trump's bid to re-open the
economy uplifted the risk sentiment.
Rupiah IDR= , which has been pressured by an exodus of
outflows since the coronavirus crisis began, firmed 1.3% to a
near one-month high and was on track to log a weekly gain of
2.5%.
The currency's recent strength is due to easing investor
concerns as bond inflows show signs of recovering, Khoon Goh,
head of Asia research at ANZ said. Indonesia's benchmark bond
yield ID10YT=RR dropped 1.6% this week, after steadily
climbing since late February.
Meanwhile, hopes that the United States will roll back
restrictions on businesses and reports about a potential
treatment for COVID-19 gave rise to risk appetite and knocked
the U.S. dollar. .DXY
In Asia, China reported a flurry of economic data, including
its first quarterly GDP contraction on record as a result of the
coronavirus outbreak, which was largely within market consensus.
Growth in the mainland's March industrial production versus
weak reading for the previous two months stood out and
"validated the strong resumption trend in production," said
Fiona Lim, senior forex strategist at Maybank, Singapore.
"The Chinese government is now focused on stimulating
domestic demand and that could provide some support to regional
trade and forex markets," Lim added.
The yuan CNY=CFXS firmed 0.1% to mark its best session in
more than a week but was set to post its first weekly loss in
four, shedding 0.6%.
The Singapore dollar SGD= , the Thai baht THB=TH and the
Korean won KRW=KFTC - all sensitive to China's economic
fortunes - strengthened between 0.3% and 0.9%.
The Indian rupee INR=IN rose 0.5% as its central bank
slashed the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to push banks
to deploy excess funds within the system toward lending.
DOLLAR
The Singapore dollar SGD= rose sharply to see its best day
in over a week after the city-state reported a surprise 17.6%
jump in March exports, helped by a surge in pharmaceutical
shipments. The export data is a closely watched indicator of
Singapore's economic health and so far seems to have dodged the
hit from global demand destruction caused by coronavirus,
Prakash Sakpal, an economist for ING said in a note.
However, he saw little chances of the trend continuing "as
the month-long 'circuit-breaker' to contain the COVID-19 spread
will significantly impair activity in April and in the rest of
this quarter."
Singapore is due to report first-quarter GDP figures on May
26.
($1 = 76.4450 Indian rupees)
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against
the dollar at 0505 GMT.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 107.710 107.94 +0.21
Sing dlr 1.423 1.4277 +0.34
Taiwan dlr 30.070 30.120 +0.17
Korean won 1218.400 1228.7 +0.85
Baht 32.505 32.66 +0.48
Peso 50.770 51.03 +0.51
Rupiah 15400.000 15600 +1.30
Rupee 76.460 76.86 +0.52
Ringgit 4.365 4.372 +0.16
Yuan 7.079 7.0820 +0.05
Change so far in 2020
Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct Move
Japan yen 107.710 108.61 +0.84
Sing dlr 1.423 1.3444 -5.52
Taiwan dlr 30.070 30.106 +0.12
Korean won 1218.400 1156.40 -5.09
Baht 32.505 29.91 -7.98
Peso 50.770 50.65 -0.24
Rupiah 15400.000 13880 -9.87
Rupee 76.460 71.38 -6.64
Ringgit 4.365 4.0890 -6.32
Yuan 7.079 6.9632 -1.63