* South Korea stocks fall 2%; Indonesia, Thailand down 1%
* Taiwan dollar gains further
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Nikhil Nainan
Jan 15 (Reuters) - South Korea and Thailand led Asia's emerging stock
markets lower on Friday, as investors looked to the implementation of the $1.9
trillion of U.S. fiscal stimulus, while Taiwan's dollar advanced even as the
central bank tried to rein it in.
Asian shares fell further by early afternoon with Indonesia .JKSE and
Thailand .SETI down around 1% and South Korea .KS11 shedding 2%. The
economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns around implementation of
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's proposed package tempered global recovery
hopes.
China reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases in more than 10
months, with millions under lockdown, while details of U.S. aid did not stray
from what was expected and doubts emerged over how the package would be pushed
through. "The ongoing success of the reflation narrative will depend on
President-Elect Biden's ability to push his relief bill through Congress, and on
a continued scaling up of the vaccination program," analysts at ANZ said.
Markets are "heavily positioned for success all round" and "there is little
room for any disappointment," ANZ added.
Thai shares fell further as the country's central bank cautioned that the
new wave of coronavirus cases could lead to a cut in growth forecast as outlook
remained uncertain. In Taiwan, the local dollar TWD=TP gained 1.7%. Since early December, the
currency has appreciated 2.5%, posing a worry for the central bank that has been
trying to balance between intervening too heavily in the market to avoid being
labelled as a currency manipulator by the United States and keeping the unit
competitive.
Taiwan relies heavily on electronics exports and the central bank is asking
major exporters to spread out sales of foreign currency as a way to stem the
local dollar's gains. Indonesia's rupiah IDR= shed earlier gains to trade roughly flat.
Earlier gains were supported by forecast-beating December exports and
imports and the dropping of a controversial proposal to revise the central bank
act. The law had raised concerns last year about Bank Indonesia's independence -
a worry for foreign investors who load up on local bonds for their high yield.
Bank of Korea (BOK) kept its base rate steady at a historic low of 0.5%, as
expected. The won KRW=KFTC dipped and shares sharply fell as foreign investors
booked profits. KRW/
Other currencies in the region relied on a stumbling dollar to trade flat to
slightly higher after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday
that interest rates would not rise any time soon.
"Range-bound consolidation may be the default posture for most dollar-Asia
pairs for now, although there is still some bias on the downside," analysts at
OCBC said.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields unchanged at 6.209%, 3-year up 2.7
basis points at 5.193%
** China COVID-19 cases surge to over 10-month high; travel discouraged
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0651 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
RIC DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= +0.04 -0.49 .N225 -0.62 3.92
China CNY=CFXS +0.15 +0.96 .SSEC 0.08 2.76
India INR=IN +0.03 +0.06 .NSEI -0.72 3.64
Indonesia IDR= +0.04 -0.04 .JKSE -0.97 6.47
Malaysia MYR= -0.01 -0.36 .KLSE -0.50 0.02
Philippines PHP= -0.01 -0.05 .PSI -0.48 1.38
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.13 -1.20 .KS11 -2.03 7.39
Singapore SGD= -0.14 -0.41 .STI 0.15 5.65
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.72 +1.78 .TWII -0.58 6.00
Thailand THB=TH +0.03 -0.07 .SETI -1.05 4.87