POLL-Investors trim long bets on Asian currencies as Sino-US trade deal hopes dwindle

* Long positions on most EMFX Asia currencies trimmed
* Investors slightly scale back bullish bets on Chinese yuan
* Long bets on Singapore dollar highest in over 21 months

By Niyati Shetty
Nov 21 (Reuters) - Investor sentiment towards most Asian
currencies soured over the past two weeks, a Reuters poll
showed, as markets reined in hopes that an interim Sino-U.S.
trade deal would materialise soon.
Expectations have eased that Beijing and Washington would
sign an initial pact this year to end their 16-month-long tariff
spat, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a hike in
tariffs earlier in the week if a deal was not signed.
Also, a fresh row over U.S. bills backing protesters in Hong
Kong has emerged, threatening to worsen relations between the
world's two top economies and clouding the deal outlook.
Majority of 12 poll participants responded by 0630 GMT on
Wednesday, before Reuters reported, citing trade experts and
people close to the White House, that a "phase one" deal could
slide into next year. Bullish bets on China's yuan CNY=CFXS slipped, a fortnight
after investors turned long for the first time in nearly seven
months.
Meanwhile, China's central bank cut both short- and
medium-term lending rates this week to prop up an economy hurt
by slowing demand and U.S. trade tariffs. Investors scaled back some bullish bets on the Indonesian
rupiah IDR= , the Taiwan dollar TWD=TP and the Philippine
peso PHP= , while short bets rose on the Indian rupee INR=IN
and the Malaysian ringgit MYR= .
Long positions on the Singapore dollar SGD= rose to their
highest since February 2018.
Official data released on Thursday showed the export-reliant
economy grew 0.5% in the third-quarter from a year ago, beating
the government's advance estimate and in line with a Reuters
poll.
The data signals some stabilisation in the bellwether Asian
economy that has been hit by the U.S.-China spat and prompted
the government to tighten its 2019 growth projection toward the
top of its previous forecast range.
The Reuters survey is focused on what analysts believe are
the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market
currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore
dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar TWD=TP , Indian rupee
INR=D2 , Philippine peso PHP=PDSP , Malaysian ringgit and the
Thai baht.
The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a
scale of minus 3 to plus 3.
A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long
U.S. dollars. The figures included positions held through
non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
The survey findings ASIAPOSN are provided below (positions
in U.S. dollar versus each currency):

DDMM CNY KRW {{2034|SGD IDIDR TWD INR MYR PHP THB
21/11 -0.11 -0.37 -0.71 -0.41 -0.84 0.31 0.11 -0.64 -1.08
07/11 -0.18 -0.38 -0.48 -0.50 -1.03 0.10 0.04 -0.85 -1.08
24/10 0.25 0.07 -0.06 -0.22 -0.56 0.31 0.45 -0.29 -1.13
10/10 0.82 0.88 0.59 0.08 -0.06 0.39 0.55 0.20 -0.80
26/9 0.84 0.91 0.51 0.01 -0.05 0.34 0.56 0.34 -0.77
12/9 0.95 1.13 0.63 -0.12 0.28 0.78 0.37 0.39 -0.52
29/8 1.51 1.68 1.17 0.45 0.78 0.85 0.81 0.60 -0.73
15/8 1.09 1.41 0.99 0.33 0.47 0.17 0.59 0.16 -0.68
01/8 0.37 1.04 0.65 -0.33 0.46 -0.49 -0.07 -0.45 -0.85
18/7 0.20 0.88 0.10 -0.46 0.36 -0.35 0.02 -0.38 -1.00