EMERGING MARKETS-Asia in fragile mood as virus numbers spike

* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3f2vwbA
* Most Asian stocks, FX reverse early losses on trade deal
mix up
* Rupiah worst performer among Asia FX

By Shriya Ramakrishnan
June 23 (Reuters) - Asia's emerging markets wobbled on
Tuesday after conflicting signals on the fate of the U.S.-China
trade deal added to rising concerns over a surge in coronavirus
cases globally.
Stock markets in Singapore .STI and Malaysia .KLSE
dropped more than 1% each after White House trade adviser Peter
Navarro said the trade deal with China was "over". Later,
President Donald Trump assured the pact was "fully intact",
which helped Singapore shares recover. South Korean shares .KS11 and the won KRW=KFTC were also
hit before recovering, with the won the top performing currency
with a half percentage point gain.
That reflected some weakness in the U.S. dollar and
tech-driven gains on Wall Street overnight. Sentiment across
Asia, however, remained fragile as new global coronavirus
infections continued to rise at an alarming rate.
Beijing on Monday reported its second straight day of record
coronavirus infections, while new cases and hospitalisations in
record numbers swept through more U.S. states.
Health authorities in South Korea also said for the first
time that they were battling a "second wave" of novel
coronavirus infections around Seoul. "Markets are in a bit of a reality check mode now. They were
looking for a V-shaped economic recovery, and now they are
coming to the idea that this may not pan out," Moh Siong Sim, FX
analyst at Bank Of Singapore, said.
"It is not clear whether the pick-up in infection rates is
because of easing of lockdowns or better testing...this is why
the market is cautious, but not in a panic mode."
According to a Reuters tally, more than 9.1 million people
have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus
globally and 472,300​ have died. In Indonesia, which has the highest coronavirus death toll
in East Asia outside of China, the rupiah IDR= weakened 0.7%
and was on track for a third straight day of declines.
The Thai baht THB=TH was flat ahead of a central bank
meeting on Wednesday, while its stock market recovered after a
sharp selloff of banking shares in the previous session.
ING analysts expect the Bank of Thailand to stand pat after
easing policy three times this year to a record low of 0.25%.
"We think the BOT will argue that both growth and inflation
may bottom out in the current quarter, with a reopening of the
economy helping the recovery for the rest of the year."
In a Reuters poll, 17 out of 20 analysts agreed the central
bank would keep rates on hold, with three backing a fourth cut
this year. stock indexes and
currencies at 0354 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX DAILY FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
RIC % % DAILY YTD %
%
Japan .N225 1.02 -4.19
>
China .SSEC 0.17 -2.62
CFXS>
India .NSEI 0.36 -14.96
IN>
Indonesia .JKSE -0.22 -22.09
>
Malaysia .KLSE -1.03 -5.86
>
Philippin .PSI -0.54 -19.22
es >
S.Korea .KS11 0.44 -2.80
KFTC>
Singapore .STI 0.22 -18.23
>
Taiwan .TWII 0.34 -3.21
TP>
Thailand .SETI 0.43 -14.04
TH>