* Bank Indonesia intervenes in spot market
* Petronas units among losers in Malaysia as oil prices drop
* Malaysia central bank meets on Thursday
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Sept 9 (Reuters) - Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine
stocks led declines in Asia's emerging markets on Wednesday, as
a global sell-off in technology stocks helped the dollar find
some support, which in turn weighed on regional currencies.
Moving into afternoon trade, currencies were mostly lower
with Indonesia's rupiah IDR= falling the most, which forced
the central bank to intervene. The currency has fallen nearly 1.5% over the past week and
lost another 0.5% on Wednesday, as concerns about government
influence over its central bank dominated headlines.
In Malaysia, the listed units of state-run oil and gas group
Petronas were among the top percentage losers, while in Jakarta,
Medco Energi Internasional MEDC.JK plunged the most as oil
prices fell below $40 a barrel on worries over demand. O/R
Indonesia's main index .JKSE fell 2% to a one-month low,
while the Malaysian index .KLSE dropped as much as 1.9% to its
lowest since the end of June.
A slim majority of economists expect Bank Negara Malaysia to
shave 25 basis points off its main rate on Thursday, bringing it
to a record low of 1.5% to help offset the impact of the
coronavirus crisis and jump start its economy. The central bank has already slashed rates by 125 bps this
year, but ING economist Prakash Sakpal argued that the ringgit's
MYR= 4% rise against the dollar since June should give the
bank more room for manoeuvre.
The ringgit MYR= dipped 0.2% against the dollar.
A top Indonesian minister told Reuters that the country must
synchronise monetary and fiscal policies better to tackle the
economic fallout of the pandemic, but said the government does
not back a proposal for a monetary board to oversee Bank
Indonesia. The rupiah is suffering from concerns over the proposed
changes to the central bank charter as well as selling of
Indonesian bonds, which are among the region's favourite
high-yielding carry trades for foreign investors, said Wei Liang
Chang, a macro strategist at DBS.
The country's external debt was $408.6 billion in the second
quarter, the central bank said https://www.bi.go.id/en/ruang-media/info-terbaru/Pages/Utang-Luar-Negeri-Indonesia-Triwulan-II-2020-Meningkat.aspx#
in August, adding up to 37.3% of gross domestic product.
A bi-weekly bond auction on Tuesday raised 22 trillion
rupiah, but total bids fell to their lowest in more than four
months. ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields up 2.4 basis points
to 6.907%
** Top percentage losers on Malaysia's benchmark index
.KLSE were Top Glove Corp TPGC.KL and Hartalega Holdings
HTHB.KL
** Malaysia's 3-year benchmark yield up 0.5 basis points to
1.859%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0709 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= +0.15 +2.61 .N225 -1.04 -2.64
China CNY=CFXS -0.03 +1.67 .SSEC -1.82 6.75
India INR=IN -0.09 -3.10 .NSEI -0.88 -7.81
Indonesia IDR= -0.54 -6.47 .JKSE -1.92 -18.35
Malaysia MYR= -0.19 -2.01 .KLSE -1.60 -5.90
Philippines PHP= -0.01 +4.14 .PSI -1.68 -24.09
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.23 -2.75 .KS11 -1.09 8.11
Singapore SGD= -0.03 -1.93 .STI -0.54 -22.70
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.70 +2.75 .TWII -0.43 5.10
Thailand THB=TH +0.13 -4.71 .SETI -0.42 -18.45