* Indonesian rupiah eases
* Chinese yuan trades flat after initial gains
* Philippine stocks lead losses, down 1%
By Anushka Trivedi
Jan 5 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies were flat-to-lower
on Tuesday as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of
crucial U.S. Senate elections that could determine the dollar's
long-term trend.
The Philippine peso PHP= was steady after the central bank
signalled it would keep interest rates low for the next few
quarters, playing down the risk of higher prices even as
inflation hit its highest in nearly two years in December.
Manila's stocks .PSI slumped 1% to their lowest in more
than one week.
The Malaysian ringgit MYR=MY and the Singapore dollar
SGD= were little changed, while the South Korean won
KRW=KFTC fell 0.5%. The Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP bucked the
wider trend with gains of 1.6%.
Investors looked towards runoff U.S. Senate elections on
Tuesday, which will determine the balance of power in Washington
with implications for incoming President Joe Biden's economic
policies.
A Democratic victory would hand the party control of the
Senate, potentially leading to more tax reforms and fiscal
stimulus, but the races were tight and the results may not be
immediately known.
"Odds of a Democrat Senate may be associated with a faster
pick-up in U.S. Treasury yields as well as inflation
expectations," said Venkateswaran Lavanya at Mizuho Bank in a
research note.
"Higher nominal U.S. Treasury yields could be more disruptive
for emerging markets," Lavanya said, adding that the U.S. dollar
would gain ground against emerging currencies in that scenario.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR= , which underpins one of Asia's
most popular bond markets among foreign investors, weakened 0.2%
after surging in the previous session on heavy bond inflows.
The Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS gave up 0.5% of early gains to
trade flat by midday. The yuan had rallied initially after the
country's central bank lifted the midpoint by the most since the
currency was revalued in 2005. CNY/
Most Asian stocks drifted lower, taking their cue from a
weak finish on Wall Street as U.S. Senate elections and surging
coronavirus cases globally played on investors' minds.
Shares in Malaysia .KLSE and India .NSEI were down about
0.5% each, but Thailand's bourse .SETI firmed, with some
investors relieved authorities were holding off on imposing a
national lockdown despite rising infections. ** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields are up about 7.4 basis
points at 5.005%
** Taiwan's exports in December likely rose for a sixth
straight month - poll ** In the Philippines, top index losers are GT Capital
Holdings Inc GTCAP.PS down 6% and Puregold Price Club Inc
PGOLD.PS down 4.2%
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0436 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD %
Japan JPY= +0.07 +0.20 .N225 -0.56 -1.23
China CNY=CFXS -0.02 +1.01 .SSEC -0.05 0.81
India INR=IN -0.16 -0.10 .NSEI -0.24 0.83
Indonesia IDR= -0.18 +0.93 .JKSE 0.22 2.33
Malaysia MYR= -0.05 +0.35 .KLSE -0.61 -2.12
Philippines PHP= +0.01 -0.03 .PSI -1.06 -0.26
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.50 -0.12 .KS11 -0.23 2.24
Singapore SGD= +0.08 +0.12 .STI -0.28 0.24
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.57 +1.78 .TWII 0.23 1.38
Thailand THB=TH -0.07 +0.23 .SETI 0.34 1.65