* Chinese yuan falls to near 6-month low
* Thai baht hits weakest level in over 16 months
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
April 2 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies inched lower on
Thursday as a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump about the
coronavirus death toll heightened fears of a global recession
and soured risk appetite.
Trump warned Americans on Tuesday of a "painful" two weeks
ahead in fighting the coronavirus and urged the population to
follow social distancing guidelines for the next 30 days.
That prompted a rush to the safety of the dollar, while
yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped to its
lowest since March 10. MKTS/GLOB
"It is hard to see a recovery in growth/risk assets if the
U.S. is not able to get the coronavirus outbreak under control,"
said Fiona Lim, senior FX strategist at Maybank, Global Markets
Singapore.
"Given the fact that the U.S. is now the new epicentre, we
see a possibility that the USD's safe-haven allure may
eventually dull."
The Malaysian ringgit MYR= slipped 0.5% to a more than
one-week low against the dollar, despite reports of a slowing
rate of new coronavirus infections. The South Korean won KRW=KFTC fell 0.5%, while the onshore
Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS lost 0.4% in early trade to its weakest
since early October.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR=ID slid 0.6% to 16,540 per
dollar.
The central bank said it expected the rupiah to move toward
15,000 per dollar by the end of the year, reiterating that its
current level against the dollar was "adequate". "Given prospects of increased capital outflows and
Indonesia's current account deficit, further IDR depreciation
cannot be ruled out," said Wei-Liang Chang, macro strategist at
DBS Bank.
"While vulnerability remains, we still think BI (Bank
Indonesia) has sufficient capacity to lean against steep IDR
depreciation."
The Thai baht THB=TH dropped as much as 0.6% to 33.15
against the dollar, its weakest since November 2018.
Financial markets in Taiwan and India were closed for
holidays.
LIKELY BETTER PERFORMERS AMONG BATTERED ASIA FX
The Singapore dollar SGD= and the Philippine peso PHP=
traded slightly higher amid broader weakness.
Currencies that are backed by substantial FX reserves and
semi-pegged, such as the CNY and the SGD, will be the best units
in the current volatile environment, said DBS Bank's Chang.
The Philippine peso PHP= is an outperformer, which has
been remarkably stable, albeit daily swings have been
substantial, Robert Carnell, chief economist and head of
research at ING Asia in Hong Kong, told the Reuters Global
Markets Forum.
"So, I suspect some hefty intervention is going on to keep
it from weakening."
The peso has been Asia's top performer this year, weakening
only 0.5%, compared to steeper falls experienced by peers.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at
0529 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous Pct
day Move
Japan yen 107.270 107.15 -0.11
Sing dlr 1.433 1.4360 +0.21
Korean won 1234.100 1230.5 -0.29
Baht 33.110 32.96 -0.45
Peso 50.890 51 +0.22
Rupiah 16540.000 16440 -0.60
Ringgit 4.373 4.35 -0.53
Yuan 7.104 7.0990 -0.07
Change so far in 2020
Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct
Move
Japan yen 107.270 108.61 +1.25
Sing dlr 1.433 1.3444 -6.18
Korean won 1234.100 1156.40 -6.30
Baht 33.110 29.91 -9.66
Peso 50.890 50.65 -0.47
Rupiah 16540.000 13880 -16.08
Ringgit 4.373 4.0890 -6.49
Yuan 7.104 6.9632 -1.99