* Indonesian rupiah gains over 1%
* Singapore warns of deep recession
* Malaysia, India likely to unveil stimulus this week
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
March 26 (Reuters) - A weaker dollar helped most emerging
Asian currencies notch tepid gains on Thursday, though sentiment
remained fragile as lockdowns and growth downgrades in the face
of the coronavirus pandemic worsened the economic outlook for
the region.
Nationwide lockdowns and severe restrictions on personal
movement to slow the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus
have cemented the case for a likely global recession.
"Bankruptcies and business closures could leave scars on the
global economy, even after draconian containment measures are
eased. Risk-on sentiment is thus unlikely to be durable in such
a scenario," Wei-Liang Chang, FX and credit macro strategist at
DBS Bank said.
During the session, most Asian currencies benefited as the
dollar weakened ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data, that is
expected to a surge in unemployment benefit claims. USD/
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC and Taiwan dollar TWD=TP
traded 0.2% higher.
Further aiding sentiment, Bank of Korea said it will
temporarily offer an unlimited amount of money for three months
through repo operations, while the government plans to relax
foreign exchange liquidity rules for banks to encourage them to
supply more dollars into local markets. The Thai baht THB=TH largely wavered between positive and
negative territory during the session.
Thailand's central bank warned that the economy will sharply
contract this year, but opted to stand pat on policy rates,
after cutting it at a special meeting last week by 25 basis
points to a record low.
The Singapore dollar SGD= weakened as much as 0.3% to
1.451 against the greenback, as the city-state warned of a deep
recession due to the pandemic.
Singapore's economy suffered the sharpest contraction in a
decade in the first quarter, while its factories posted their
biggest output drop on record. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah IDR=ID , which resumed
trade after a holiday, gained 1.2% and was the top performer in
the region.
"IDR has previously been sold off heavily amidst large bond
outflows. A stabilization in risk sentiment, and abating
outflows, could prompt a larger IDR recovery relative to Asian
peers," Chang added.
The Malaysian ringgit MYR= advanced 0.9%, ahead of the
announcement on a second economic stimulus package on Friday.
The Indian rupee INR=IN , which also resumed trade after a
holiday, strengthened as much as 0.9% to 75.23 per dollar, its
best intraday performance in more than six months, as investors
awaited a domestic stimulus to combat the virus outbreak.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that India was likely to
unveil an economic stimulus package of more than 1.5 trillion
rupees ($19.6 billion) by the end of the week. VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at
0555 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous Pct
day Move
Japan yen 110.570 111.19 +0.56
Sing dlr 1.449 1.4468 -0.14
Taiwan dlr 30.262 30.325 +0.21
Korean won 1227.600 1229.9 +0.19
Baht 32.800 32.81 +0.03
Peso 50.920 51.03 +0.22
Rupiah 16250.000 16450 +1.23
Rupee 75.335 75.88 +0.72
Ringgit 4.350 4.387 +0.85
Yuan 7.112 7.1095 -0.03
Change so far in 2020
Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct
Move
Japan yen 110.570 108.61 -1.77
Sing dlr 1.449 1.3444 -7.21
Taiwan dlr 30.262 30.106 -0.52
Korean won 1227.600 1156.40 -5.80
Baht 32.800 29.91 -8.81
Peso 50.920 50.65 -0.53
Rupiah 16250.000 13880 -14.58
Rupee 75.335 71.38 -5.25
Ringgit 4.350 4.0890 -6.00
Yuan 7.112 6.9632 -2.09