* 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
By Nikhil Nainan
Sept 9 (Reuters) - Malaysian, Philippine and Indonesian
stocks led falls in Asia's emerging stock markets on Wednesday,
as a tech sector sell-off drove a wave of global selling and a
drop in oil prices added to the pain for Malaysia's
state-controlled oil companies.
Currency markets across the region were more resilient,
although Indonesia's rupiah again suffered after a week
dominated by concerns about government influence over its
central bank, forcing the bank to intervene again in markets.
In Kuala Lumpur .KLSE , the listed units of state-run oil
and gas group Petronas were among the top losers as oil prices
fell below $40 a barrel for the first time since June on worries
over demand. O/R
The index fell as much as 1.9% to its lowest since the end
of June.
With central banks across the region cutting interest rates
to offset the impact of the coronavirus crisis, a slim majority
of analysts expect Bank Negara Malaysia to shave another 25
basis points off its main rate on Thursday, bringing it to a
record low of 1.5%.
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 dipped 0.2% against the dollar in morning trade.
The rupiah IDR= has fallen more than 1% in the past week
and it was down another 0.5% on Wednesday, with the central
bank's head of monetary management telling Reuters it had
intervened to calm spot currency markets. Wei Liang Chang, a macro strategist at DBS, said the rupiah
was continuing to suffer from concerns over proposed changes to
the central bank charter as well as selling of Indonesian bonds,
among the region's favourite high-yielding carry trades for
foreign investors.
A bi-weekly bond auction on Tuesday raised 22 trillion
rupiah, but the total bids fell to their lowest in more than
four months. A top Indonesian minister told Reuters that the country must
synchronise monetary and fiscal policies better to tackle
economic pressures caused by the pandemic, although the
government does not back a proposal for a monetary board to
oversee Bank Indonesia. ** Top losers on Malaysia's benchmark index .KLSE were Top
Glove Corp TPGC.KL and IHH Healthcare IHHH.KL
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 3 basis points
to 6.912%
** Malaysia's 3-year benchmark yield is up 0.5 basis points
to 1.859%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0353 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= +0.06 +2.51 .N225 -1.48 -3.07
China CNY=CFXS -0.04 +1.66 .SSEC -1.07 7.57
India INR=IN +0.00 -3.01 .NSEI -0.87 -7.81
Indonesia IDR= -0.51 -6.44 .JKSE -1.20 -17.75
Malaysia MYR= -0.17 -1.99 .KLSE -1.29 -5.60
Philippines PHP= +0.10 +4.26 .PSI -1.37 -23.85
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.28 -2.80 .KS11 -0.78 8.44
Singapore SGD= -0.08 -1.98 .STI -0.59 -22.74
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.71 +2.76 .TWII -0.92 4.58
Thailand THB=TH +0.13 -4.71 .SETI -0.88 -18.83