* Singapore dollar weakens
* Thailand Oct MPI falls
* China's Oct industrial profits dips 9.9% y/y
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies traded in tight
ranges against the dollar on Wednesday, as investors were
reluctant to make big bets on the outcome of U.S.-China trade
talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Washington was
in the "final throes" of work on a deal that would defuse a
16-month trade war with Beijing, but reiterated U.S. support for
anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, a huge sore point with
China. "..the bigger risk is an augmented form of "bait and switch"
with regards to U.S.-China trade conflict, where investors
seduced by a rapidly progressing 'Phase-1' trade deal are
blind-sided by the escalating tech tensions between U.S. and
China," analysts at Miuzho Bank said in a note.
China' yuan CNY=CFXS was marginally higher, but gains were
capped by weak industrial profit readings, suggesting business
conditions in the world's second-largest economy are continuing
to deteriorate amid weak domestic demand and U.S. tariff
pressure. Despite signs of progress from both sides on a trade deal,
markets have been on edge amid a lack of concrete details on
talks and clarity on other sticking points such as a rollback of
existing tariffs imposed by U.S. - sought by Beijing as part of
the deal.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR= edged lower, while the
Singapore dollar SGD= weakened 0.2%.
Indonesia's Vice Finance Minister on Wednesday said GDP
growth for Southeast Asia's largest economy is now seen at
5.05%, compared to its previous estimate of 5.08%. The Philippine peso PHP= depreciated as much as 0.2%,
before erasing some losses, while the Indian rupee strengthened
0.11%.
THAI BAHT
The Thai baht THB=TH , emerging Asia's top performing
currency so far this year, weakened slightly against the dollar
on the day.
On Tuesday, the Thai government rolled out stimulus measures
to inject more than 100 billion baht ($3.31 billion) into the
economy, whose exports have come under pressure to global trade
tensions and a strong baht. "THB remains firm despite some sell off by foreign investors
in bonds and equities in reaction to the announcement of fiscal
stimulus program," Mahesh Sethuraman, Deputy Head of Global
Sales Trading at Saxo Capital Markets said.
"The healthy current account balance will continue to keep
THB relatively stronger even if we see some pullback against
USD. If we look at the 5 year chart, the thai baht is trading
very close to a 5-year low….so this is just noise."
Thailand's manufacturing production index in October fell
8.45% from a year earlier, dragged down by lower production of
cars, petroleum and steel, the industry ministry said on
Wednesday. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0531 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 109.130 109.03 -0.09
Sing dlr 1.366 1.3639 -0.16
Taiwan dlr 30.504 30.512 +0.03
Korean won 1176.600 1176.7 +0.01
Baht 30.226 30.19 -0.12
Peso 50.890 50.83 -0.12
Rupiah 14090.000 14080 -0.07
Rupee 71.408 71.48 +0.11
Ringgit 4.180 4.181 +0.02
Yuan 7.030 7.0322 +0.03
Change so far in 2019
Currency Latest bid End 2018 Pct Move
Japan yen 109.130 109.56 +0.39
Sing dlr 1.366 1.3627 -0.25
Taiwan dlr 30.504 30.733 +0.75
Korean won 1176.600 1115.70 -5.18
Baht 30.226 32.55 +7.69
Peso 50.890 52.47 +3.10
Rupiah 14090.000 14375 +2.02
Rupee 71.408 69.77 -2.29
Ringgit 4.180 4.1300 -1.20
Yuan 7.030 6.8730 -2.23
($1 = 30.1900 baht)