* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3f2vwbA
* Yuan's fall hits most Asian currencies
* Philippine stocks slip 1.2% as coronavirus cases surge
By Rashmi Ashok
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Tensions over a planned U.S. ban on major
Chinese apps hurt most Asian markets on Friday, with Philippine
stocks taking an added hit after a jump in coronavirus
infections lifted the country's case load to the highest in
Southeast Asia.
Malaysia's ringgit, often seen as a proxy for China's yuan,
lost 0.3% MYR= while the South Korean won fell 0.4% KRW=KFTC
as investors worried about further trade restrictions would be
the end result of the tensions.
Citing security concerns, President Donald Trump issued
executive orders on Thursday that will ban U.S. transactions
with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the popular video-sharing
app TikTok, and Tencent 0700.HK , owner of the WeChat app, in
45 days time. That sank Chinese markets in morning trade, and the rest of
the region followed. The Singapore dollar SGD= , another trade-
and China-sensitive currency, fell 0.3%.
Apart from the obvious fallout to Tencent and ByteDance,
Washington DC's moves are sure to ratchet up geopolitical
tensions with Beijing once again, after a relatively quiet
couple of weeks, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at
OANDA.
"We would expect the sell-off to gather pace as the day goes
on, with investors reducing risk into what could be a fraught
U.S. session," he said.
The rising geopolitical tensions come at a time when a
number of the region's developing economies are struggling with
fresh coronavirus outbreaks.
Philippine equities .PSI fell as much as 1% after the
country recorded a surge in infections late on Thursday,
overtaking Indonesia as the worst hit country in Southeast Asia.
The capital Manila has been placed in a fresh lockdown.
The spike in cases also followed dismal data on Thursday
which showed gross domestic product plunged 16.5% in the second
quarter.
Thailand's baht THB=TH also eased as it delayed plans for
a "travel bubble" agreement with select countries with low
infections, citing the second wave of cases. That will put
pressure on its vital tourism industry and complicate efforts to
revive a battered economy. The Malaysian ringgit trimmed initial losses after data was
released showing industrial production fell a marginal 0.4% in
June from last year, far from the 10.4% fall forecast by
analysts surveyed by Reuters. The Indonesian rupiah IDR= eased, as the central bank
bought 82.1 trillion rupiah ($5.63 billion) of government bonds
in a private placement, the first transaction under a COVID-19
burden-sharing scheme with the government that some analysts say
carries inflationary risks. ** In the Philippines, top index losers were Bank of the
Philippine Islands BPI.PS down 3.66% and SM Investments Corp
SM.PS down 2.85%
** Top losers on the Singapore STI .STI included Genting
Singapore Ltd GENS.SI down 4.93% and Thai Beverage PCL
TBEV.SI down 4%
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields fell 1.6 basis points
to 6.782% while 3-year benchmark yields eased 0.2 basis points
to 5.265%
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0401 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan JPY= -0.07 +2.84 .N225 -0.93 -6.12
China
S>
India INR=IN 0.00 -4.74 .NSEI -0.28 -8.22
Indonesia IDR= -0.14 -4.93 .JKSE -0.78 -18.4
4
Malaysia MYR= -0.21 -2.53 .KLSE -0.54 -0.56
Philippines PHP= -0.03 +3.18 .PSI -1.00 -25.2
3
S.Korea
C>
Singapore SGD= -0.28 -2.03 .STI -1.12 -21.4
9
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.40 +2.46 .TWII -0.87 6.70
Thailand THB=TH -0.38 -4.17 .SETI -0.44 -15.9
8