* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3lKhL5I
* Indonesia's rupiah gains over 2% this week
* Malaysia budget due at 8000 GMT
* Philippine, Singapore shares snap 4-day winning streak
By Anushka Trivedi
Nov 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's rupiah hit a four-month high
on Friday and most other emerging Asian currencies and stock
markets also rose as Democrat Joe Biden inched close to victory
in the U.S. presidential election. The rupiah IDR= firmed 0.9% to 14,240 per dollar, taking
gains so far this week to around 2.5%, with investors chasing
Indonesia's high-yielding debt after the prospect of a divided
U.S. Congress and therefore therefore smaller stimulus caused a
drop in Treasury yields . US/
Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields ID10YT=RR were down
9.4 basis points at 6.516%.
As investors prepare for a possible Biden victory, they are
also bracing for Republicans to keep control of the Senate, and
that could make it tough for the Democrats to pass a huge fiscal
package for a pandemic-hit U.S. economy.
"Republican control of the Senate suggests that no major
fiscal stimulus is the offing," said Wei Liang Chang, a macro
strategist at DBS bank in Singapore.
"This has also led to a drop in U.S. Treasury yields, which
raises the attractiveness of the higher-yielding rupiah."
Investors have been buying China's yuan and stocks on the
view that a Biden presidency will mean a less hawkish trade and
foreign policy.
The Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS dipped in early trade after its
central bank set a weaker mid-point than the previous day's
close, but was headed for weekly gains of 1.2%, its best
performance in a month.
The Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP and the Thai baht THB=TH
jumped 1.4% and 0.4%, respectively.
Equities made some headway too, with Malaysia shares .KLSE
up 0.3% ahead of the 2021 budget announcement against the
backdrop of political turmoil in the country. The budget is expected to include a 28 billion ringgit
($6.76 billion) provision for COVID-19 related matters and
target revenue enhancement, as per Citi Research.
A four-day rally in Philippine .PSI and Singapore .STI
shares lost steam, as they fell 0.4% and 0.6%, each.
Kelvin Wong, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore,
said some Asian benchmark stock indexes are seeing profit-taking
at the end of the week.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields TH10YT=RR are
down 0.5 basis points at 1.33%
** Top losers on the Singapore STI .STI include Singapore
Telecommunications Ltd STEL.SI down 2.7% and Mapletree
Industrial Trust MAPI.SI down 2.1%
** In the Philippines, top index losers are Metropolitan
Bank and Trust Co MBT.PS down 3.2% and First Gen Corp
FGEN.PS down 2.6%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at
0349 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY YTD %
%
Japan JPY= +0.08 +5.05 .N225 1.09 3.00
China CNY=CFXS -0.34 +4.98 .SSEC -0.71 8.08
India INR=IN +0.00 -4.05 .NSEI 0.00 -0.40
Indonesi IDR= +0.91 -2.53 .JKSE 0.42 -16.15
a
Malaysia MYR= +0.07 -1.23 .KLSE 0.33 -5.18
Philippi PHP= +0.06 +4.97 .PSI -0.39 -15.31
nes
S.Korea KRW=KFTC +0.22 +2.73 .KS11 0.21 10.07
Singapor SGD= -0.05 -0.44 .STI -0.55 -20.12
e
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.17 +5.49 .TWII 0.38 8.10
Thailand THB=TH +0.46 -2.57 .SETI -0.11 -20.06
($1 = 4.1390 ringgit)