* Prospective rate cut decision weighs on sentiment
* Higher oil prices put rupee, rupiah, baht under strain
* Rupiah slips to a near 2-week low
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Aby Jose Koilparambil
July 24 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah weakened to a near
two-week low on Wednesday, while most other regional currencies
barely moved as investors stayed cautious ahead of Thursday's
European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.
Central bank easing remains a key theme for currency
markets, amid persistent global growth worries, fuelling
expectations the ECB will cut, as will the U.S. Federal Reserve
on July 31.
Unlike Asian shares, regional currencies did not strengthen
following a Bloomberg report that U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer would travel to Shanghai next week to meet
Chinese officials. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday called
the meeting a good sign and said he expected Beijing to start
buying U.S. agriculture products soon. Khoon Goh, head of research at ANZ Banking Group
(Singapore), said that despite the positive news on Sino-U.S.
trade, Asian currencies "were relatively subdued as market
participants are awaiting the ECB decision on Thursday, where a
rate cut is highly likely."
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC , Philippine peso PHP= ,
Singapore dollar SGD= and Tawian dollar TWD=TP traded in a
narrow range.
The Indian rupee INR=IN fell as much as 0.2%, while the
Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS , the Malaysian ringgit MYR=MY and the
Thai baht THB=TH depreciated about 0.1% each.
The rupiah IDR=ID slipped as much as 0.3 to 14,022 against
the dollar, its weakest level since July 12.
Goh attributed the rupiah losses to profit-taking after the
currency's strong showing last week, where it gained 0.5%.
The rupiah unit has appreciated in each of the past five
weeks, but has lost about 0.6% so far this one.
OIL CONCERNS
Another factor putting the rupiah under pressure is rising
oil prices rooted in lingering concerns about possible supply
disruptions in the Middle East.
The currencies of major oil importers including India,
Indonesia and Thailand have come under strain following Iran's
seizure last week of a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz,
which has raised global prices.
The Brent benchmark prices LCOc1 have risen about 2.5%
this week, with the rupee and the baht falling as much as 0.4%
and 0.5%, respectively.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0342 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 108.170 108.21 +0.04
Sing dlr 1.365 1.3650 -0.02
Taiwan dlr 31.078 31.091 +0.04
Korean won 1177.900 1178.9 +0.08
Baht 30.910 30.9 -0.03
Peso 51.255 51.25 -0.01
Rupiah 14010.000 13980 -0.21
Rupee 69.040 68.94 -0.14
Ringgit 4.119 4.118 -0.02
Yuan 6.883 6.8794 -0.05
Change so far in 2019
Currency Latest bid End 2018 Pct Move
Japan yen 108.170 109.56 +1.29
Sing dlr 1.365 1.3627 -0.19
Taiwan dlr 31.078 30.733 -1.11
Korean won 1177.900 1115.70 -5.28
Baht 30.910 32.55 +5.31
Peso 51.255 52.47 +2.37
Rupiah 14010.000 14375 +2.61
Rupee 69.040 69.77 +1.06
Ringgit 4.119 4.1300 +0.27
Yuan 6.883 6.8730 -0.14