Asian currencies subdued; rupiah and peso slip
An MSCI gauge of stocks in emerging Asia touched their highest since mid-November 2021, while a subset of equities in ASEAN countries, dominated by Singapore, jumped to an over 9-month peak.
Singapore's benchmark scaled to a new intraday all-time high for the 14th consecutive session, last trading at a record level of 4,225.79 points, with strong inflows into high-dividend industrials, telecom and safe-haven driving the rally.
Southeast Asia's largest bank, DBS, and defence firm, ST Engineering, last traded at record highs, while Singapore Airlines rose to its highest in two years and telecom Singtel hit a near nine-year peak.
DBS analysts predict increased investor interest, particularly from retail investors, in high-yielding alternatives such as domestic REITs and banks if returns on fixed deposits and short-term government debt securities stay below 2%.
In Indonesia, the benchmark jumped 1%, and was on track to close at its highest since mid-December last year. The index has clocked gains for the 11th straight day, on hopes of monetary easing and a favourable tariff deal with the US
Maybank economists expect further cuts of 50 basis points with risks skewed to more easing, depending on Indonesian rupiah stability.
Elsewhere in emerging Asia, stocks in Manila added 0.6%, while those in Bangkok erased early 1% gain to trade marginally lower in the afternoon trade.
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