Line-UpForTheDayAhead
LightdataforAsiatodayandwewillseeMalaysia’sin-flationnumbersforMay.Itisexpectedtoreach1.7%,anumbersimilartothepreviousmonth.Withthat,theaverageyear-to-dateinflationinMalaysiawillbe1.5%,wellbelowBankNegara’s2-3%inflationtarget.Else-where,thePhilippineswillbereleasingMay’sbalanceofpaymentdata.
Forex
Yesterday,wesawseveralAsiancurrenciesgettingweakeragainstthegreenback.ToponthelistwastheJPY(-0.25%),followedbytheSGD(-0.06%),andtheTHB(-0.03%).Withthat,theSGDclosedlowerat1.2583/USD,whiletheTHBat30.76/USD.Also,theTWDclosedat29.886/USDwhilethePHPclosedat43.123/USD.
SGD
TheUSD/SGDtradedatahigherrangeof1.2545-1.2605yesterday.Onatrade-weightedbasis,theSGDNEERistradingat1.4%belowthemidpointthismorning.Weexpectittotradebetween1.5%and1.0%belowmidpointtoday,implyingtheUSD/SGDrangeof1.2630-1.2566basedoncurrentFXlevels.
CNY
Thismorning,thePBoCfixedtheRMBmid-pointat6.1677/USD,comparedtopreviousmid-pointof6.1651.TheRMBclosedyesterdayat6.1285/USD.
Equity
YesterdaysawmixedmarketperformanceinAsia,wherethetopgainerswerethePhilippines(+2.83%),Singapore(+1.45%),andIndonesia(+1.38%)markets.TheSingaporeindexwasproppedupbygainscom-ingfromtelcos(+2.40%),industrials(+1.62%),andconsumerservices(+1.37%).
Ontheoppositeside,theStockExchangeofThai-landfaredtheworstandclosedwithanear3%loss.Losseswerecontributedfromalmostallsectorswithtoplosersbeingbasicmaterials(-3.54%),technology(-3.51%),andfinancials(-3.42%).
AsagaugeofconcernsoftheQEtaperingbytheFed,inthepastweek,weobservedforeigninstitutionalin-vestorscuttingtheirholdingsofAsianequities.Toputanumbertothis,thesumofnetsellinginIndia,Indo-nesia,thePhilippines,SouthKorea,Taiwan,Thailand,andVietnamamountedtoUS$4.11b.Year-to-date,thenetsellinghasreachedUS$10.4b.Wecomparethiswiththeyear’shigherofUS$19.5bonthatfatefuldayof22ndMaywheretheFedsignaledthepossibilityoftaperingforthefirsttime.
EconomicNews
HongKong’sMayunemploymentratecameinat3.4%,atadlowerthanestimatesof3.5%.
Separately,HongKonghadextendeditsprobeto-wardsbanksthatmayhavebeenriggingtheHibor,andthisincludesHSBCbank.
ChinahadcomeouttoacknowledgetheinflatedtradedatawithHongKongfora“fewmonths”in2013.ThaiPMYinglucksaidthatherCabinethadnotyetdecidedwhethertheywouldcutthericeinterventionpriceandlimitthevolumethegovernmentwillbuyinthenewcorpyearthatstartsinOctober.Accord-ingtotheCommerceMinisterBoonsongTeriyapirom,thepossiblerangeofthenewpricecouldbebetweenTHB12,000andTHB13,500perton,comparedtotheTHB15,000currently.Also,thelimitmaybe14-15mtonfromthecurrentunlimitedamount.
TheIndonesianparliamenthadpassedthe2013StateBudget,whichwillincludeacompensationprogrammeforthepoor.Thisisseenbymanyasapre-requisitefortheimpendinghikeinsubsidizedfuelprices.
Malaysian’sPMNajibhadannouncedthathewillbetablingthebudgetproposalfor2014on25thOctober.Oneofthemainprioritieswillbetofurtherreducethebudgetdeficitto3%by2015.