* Early counting trends suggest massive mandate for ruling
party
* South Korean won scales one-week high
* Indonesian rupiah recovers from previous session's losses
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Aby Jose Koilparambil
May 23 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee gained as much as 0.4%
on Thursday after early counting trends suggested a comfortable
victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata
Party-led coalition, setting the stage for his second term with
a stronger mandate.
Exit polls had predicted a clear win for Modi in the
election held over April and May, and the initial counting leads
came in line with those predictions.
The rupee INR=IN has risen in all four sessions since the
exit poll results were released on Sunday.
"The initial leads are suggesting that the BJP is going to
get a majority of its own and that is very positive for all
asset classes because such a mandate brings political stability.
There will be extensive capital inflows to India," said Anindya
Banerjee, analyst at Kotak Securities.
Banerjee added that the extent of appreciation in the rupee
might be limited now but it stood to outperform its emerging
market peers in the near term.
Most other Asian currencies drifted lower but fared better
than regional equities markets as stability in the Chinese yuan
helped stave off pressure from U.S.-China trade tensions.
The yuan CNY=CFXS , the Singapore dollar SGD= , the Thai
baht THB=TH , the Philippine peso PHP= and the Malaysian
ringgit MYR=MY weakened, but traded in narrow ranges.
"One key reason for wider Asian currency stability is the
yuan staying below the 7.00 mark against the dollar. That is
helping to curb the sentiment in the wider Asian currency space
given that the yuan is such a big driver in the region," said
Chang Wei Liang, forex strategist at Mizuho Bank.
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC firmed as much as 0.4% to a
one-week peak and is set for a fourth straight session of gains.
After three consecutive months of losses and being down about
2% so far in May, the won's fortunes turned around this week.
South Korean finance ministry and central bank officials on
Wednesday issued verbal warnings against disorderly currency
market movements, saying the exchange rate appeared to have been
"overshooting" as the won was weakening "relatively fast".
RECOVERS
The Indonesian rupiah IDR=ID bounced back from the
previous session's losses as calm returned to the streets of
Jakarta after clashes between security forces and protesters
angry over Indonesian President Joko Widodo winning a second
term. The rupiah put on as much as 0.3% to 14,480 against the
dollar, its best intraday percentage gain in three weeks.
Commenting on the rupiah's recovery, analysts at Oanda said
in a note that the political worries caused by overblown
coverage of the riots would probably fade quickly.
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against
the dollar at 0551 GMT.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Japan yen 110.280 110.34 +0.05
Sing dlr 1.380 1.3790 -0.09
Taiwan dlr 31.520 31.530 +0.03
Korean won 1189.200 1192.8 +0.30
Baht 31.970 31.94 -0.09
Peso 52.470 52.39 -0.15
Rupiah 14485.000 14520 +0.24
Rupee 69.535 69.66 +0.18
Ringgit 4.192 4.1845 -0.18
Yuan 6.914 6.9068 -0.10
Change so far in 2019
Currency Latest bid End 2018 Pct Move
Japan yen 110.280 109.56 -0.65
Sing dlr 1.380 1.3627 -1.27
Taiwan dlr 31.520 30.733 -2.50
Korean won 1189.200 1115.70 -6.18
Baht 31.970 32.55 +1.81
Peso 52.470 52.47 +0.00
Rupiah 14485.000 14375 -0.76
Rupee 69.535 69.77 +0.34
Ringgit 4.192 4.1300 -1.48
Yuan 6.914 6.8730 -0.59