EMERGING MARKETS

SHARES MIXED, CURRENCIES UP

EMERGING Asian stock markets were mixed yesterday as investors stayed away from making big bets ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, while improving risk sentiment aided regional currencies.

Thailand and Indonesia gained over 0.2 percent each, while Singapore and India fell as much as 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Volumes remained thin and sentiment was sombre ahead of the holiday, even as broader Asian stocks hit a record high on upbeat earnings and hopes of a large US fiscal stimulus.

Stock markets in Vietnam and Taiwan were already closed for the holidays, while China will enter a weeklong holiday from today.

The Manila benchmark, which climbed as much as 1.3 percent earlier in the session, erased some gains to trade up 0.2 percent later in the session.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at a record low today, brushing aside a projected uptick in inflation to support the country’s pandemic-hit economy, a Reuters poll showed.

The bank will likely look through a recent increase in inflation and maintain an easy monetary policy stance, Standard Chartered analysts wrote in a note.

However, the pace of recovery in the pandemic-hit economy remains a worry.

“The economy remains quarters away from returning to pre-pandemic levels of GDP,” said ING senior economist Nicholas Mapa.

“Furthermore, above-target inflation, elevated jobless numbers and the absence of business sentiment will likely mean that growth momentum in the Philippines will be stuck in low gear for now.”

Malaysian equities climbed 0.4 percent ahead of release of fourth-quarter gross domestic product data today, with financials and industrials leading the gains.