* New coronavirus cases double in mainland China
* Yuan posts biggest intraday drop in two weeks
* IDR to see bouts of weakness in near term - ING
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Anushka Trivedi
April 8 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies slipped against
the dollar on Wednesday, with the Indonesian rupiah leading the
pack, as a rising global death toll from the novel coronavirus
soured risk sentiment.
Investors sought shelter in safe havens as optimism faded
that the coronavirus crisis in Europe and New York was slowing,
sending the dollar higher a day after it posted its biggest drop
against a basket of currencies USD= in nearly two weeks.
FRX/
New York reported its sharpest single-day spike in
fatalities and Spain's daily toll of deaths rose for the first
time in five days, while mainland China saw an almost doubling
of new cases in 24 hours due to infected overseas travellers.
"This suggests that more time and patience is needed before
light appears at the end of the tunnel... and that there is no
easy way to get around the pandemic," CMC Markets analyst
Margaret Yang Yan said.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR= eased 0.7% following a 1.5%
jump late in the previous session after the central bank said it
received a $60 billion credit line from the U.S. Federal Reserve
to increase onshore dollar supply. "This should provide some relief to the rupiah in the near
term but expect it to face bouts of weakness as the number of
infections continues to rise with authorities reluctant to issue
more stringent containment measures," ING economists wrote in a
note.
Meanwhile, Indonesia tightened restrictions further as the
rate of infections climbed, but stopped short of imposing a
lockdown. The Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS slipped 0.3% CNY=CFXS in its
biggest intraday drop in two weeks.
The Thai baht THB=TH , the Singapore dollar SGD= and the
Indian rupee INR=IN lost between 0.1% and 0.4%.
The Philippine peso PHP= weakened 0.2%, on course for a
second session of drop.
The central bank on Tuesday indicated it had room to ease
interest rates, which meant the peso was unlikely to strengthen
robustly at this point, Maybank analysts said.
The central bank, which has already slashed rates by 75
basis points this year, will meet on May 21 to review its
monetary policy.
The Malaysian ringgit MYR= pared early losses to trade
flat as oil prices reversed course on hopes that a meeting
between OPEC members and allied producers would trigger output
cuts. O/R
Malaysia, being a net oil exporter, sees impact to its
currency from crude price volatility.
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 108.880 108.7 -0.17
Sing dlr 1.427 1.4231 -0.30
Taiwan dlr 30.102 30.152 +0.17
Korean won 1218.700 1221.2 +0.21
Baht 32.790 32.75 -0.12
Peso 50.610 50.51 -0.20
Rupiah 16230.000 16125 -0.65
Rupee 75.888 75.63 -0.35
Ringgit 4.335 4.335 +0.00
Yuan 7.066 7.0445 -0.30
Change so far in 2020
Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct Move
Japan yen 108.880 108.61 -0.25
Sing dlr 1.427 1.3444 -5.81
Taiwan dlr 30.102 30.106 +0.01
Korean won 1218.700 1156.40 -5.11
Baht 32.790 29.91 -8.78
Peso 50.610 50.65 +0.08
Rupiah 16230.000 13880 -14.48
Rupee 75.888 71.38 -5.94
Ringgit 4.335 4.0890 -5.67
Yuan 7.066 6.9632 -1.45