* Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia set for weekly
gains
* Rupiah up over 3% over 2 weeks on Biden's win, vaccine
news
* Shanghai stocks fall 1% on U.S. investment ban
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Most emerging stocks in Asia fell on
Friday as worries over surging COVID-19 cases across the globe
dampened hopes for a near-term effective vaccine, with Shanghai
leading losses after the United States banned investments in
some Chinese firms.
Optimism over Pfizer Inc's PFE.N promising vaccine trial
data and Joe Biden's victory in the U.S. presidential election
quickly faded this week as Europe and parts of America imposed
fresh curbs to tackle a resurgence in new coronavirus cases.
"Simply put, the imminence of virus devastation is more
daunting than the promise of the vaccine pipeline," Mizuho Bank
said in a note.
While the pandemic has been largely brought under control in
Asia, its tourism- and trade-reliant economies would need a
sustained recovery from the rest of the world to rebound to
pre-COVID-19 levels.
The Shanghai composite index .SSEC fell 1%, after the
Trump administration on Thursday prohibited U.S. investments in
Chinese firms that Washington says are owned or controlled by
the Chinese military. Currencies in the region also weakened with Indonesia's
rupiah IDR= , which has benefited from a surge in bond inflows
lately due to improving risk appetite, fell 0.2%.
Since the start of last week, the rupiah has climbed over 3%
on the dollar as investors ploughed into its high-yielding
bonds. Bank Indonesia will meet in the middle of next week to
decide rates.
In local economic news, Malaysia's economy shrank less than
expected in the third quarter as business activity resumed,
helping stocks .KLSE pare much of their losses to trade 0.3%
lower. The ringgit MYR= remained little changed. Malaysia's central bank governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus
said growth into 2021 will be supported by a pick-up in global
demand and as domestic activity recovers.
Equities in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore .STI are set to
gain over 4% over the week, while Bangkok .SETI is slated for
a 7.2% rise.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said while the
vaccine development news was welcome, near-term economic risks
remain, while European officials warned that measures to control
the spread were still required. HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields down 4.1 basis points
to 4.918%
** Malaysia's 10-year benchmark yield down 2.6 basis points
to 2.666%
** Singapore Airlines marks worst day in over 3 months after
debt raise ** Trump bans U.S. investments in firms linked to Chinese
military stock indexes and currencies at 0650 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
RIC DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= +0.12 +3.45 .N225 -0.53 7.31
China CNY=CFXS -0.18 +5.13 .SSEC -1.02 8.34
India INR=IN +0.00 -4.38 .NSEI -0.02 4.27
Indonesia IDR= -0.21 -2.05 .JKSE 0.02 -13.34
Malaysia MYR= -0.02 -0.97 .KLSE -0.30 -0.17
Philippines PHP= +0.38 +4.92 .PSI -0.77 -10.82
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.07 +3.66 .KS11 0.74 13.48
Singapore SGD= -0.01 -0.36 .STI -0.20 -16.02
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.22 +5.59 .TWII 0.39 10.64
Thailand THB=TH +0.03 -1.03 .SETI 1.03 -14.54