(Adds text, updates prices)
By Patturaja Murugaboopathy
Oct 17 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies strengthened on
Thursday due to overnight weakness in dollar after a fall in
U.S. retail sales, while lingering hopes of a Sino-U.S. trade
deal also lent support to the export-reliant regional units.
The Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP led the gains in the region,
followed by the South Korean won KRW=KFTC and the Malaysian
ringgit MYR= .
"We still see some net risk-on sentiment supporting the
Asian currencies in general. We have positive news coming out
from Brexit. And in Asia, regarding the Sino-U.S. trade
situation, it is still very much on the holding pattern," said
Terence Wu, a currency strategist at OCBC Bank.
"Even though people are starting to reach some suspicions
over whether a deal will be signed eventually in the APAC
meeting, at this point there are no clear signals that it is
breaking up."
The dollar index .DXY was trading flat at 98.005, hovering
near a four-week low of 97.898 it touched in the previous
session.
Analysts said regional currencies also firmed on rising
expectations on an interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve
this month. The bets further strengthened after data released on
Wednesday showed U.S. retail sales falling for the first time
seven months in September.
Indian rupee INR=IN and the Indonesian rupiah IDR=ID ,the
two high yielding currencies, also strengthened on the day due
to a sharp fall in U.S. bond yields.
On the other hand, China's yuan CNY=CFXS edged lower
against the U.S. dollar after the central bank set a weaker
daily reference rate for the currency.
INDIAN RUPEE
The Indian rupee INR=IN rose 0.16% against the dollar on
Thursday helped by weaker oil prices, lower U.S. bond yields and
strong domestic equities.
However, some analysts said falling real yields of Indian
bonds could affect the rupee, along with other concerns such as
fiscal deficit and lower liquidity in the banking system.
India's real yields have fallen nearly 200 basis points
since the start of this year, according to Refinitiv data. Real
yields are nominal yields adjusted for inflation.
"Rupee could suffer the double whammy of growth dent as well
as pressures from capital pulling out of equities in response to
downbeat growth prospects," said Vishnu Varathan, head of
economics and strategy for Mizuho Bank in Singapore in a note.
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against
the dollar at 0513 GMT.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day
at 0513 GMT
Currency Latest Previou Pct
bid s day Move
Japan yen 108.75 108.75 +0.00
0
Sing dlr 1.369 1.3700 +0.11
Taiwan dlr 30.664 30.722 +0.19
Korean won 1186.4 1187.8 +0.12
00
Baht 30.365 30.39 +0.08
Peso 51.420 51.51 +0.18
Rupiah 14160. 14164 +0.03
000
Rupee 71.400 71.44 +0.05
Ringgit 4.186 4.1935 +0.18
Yuan 7.098 7.0950 -0.04
Change so far in
2019
Currency Latest End Pct
bid 2018 Move
Japan yen 108.75 109.56 +0.74
0
Sing dlr 1.369 1.3627 -0.42
Taiwan dlr 30.664 30.733 +0.23
Korean won 1186.4 1115.70 -5.96
00
Baht 30.365 32.55 +7.20
Peso 51.420 52.47 +2.04
Rupiah 14160. 14375 +1.52
000
Rupee 71.400 69.77 -2.28
Ringgit 4.186 4.1300 -1.34
Yuan 7.098 6.8730 -3.17
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India real yields https://tmsnrt.rs/31kNwa2
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