BENGALURU- Most emerging Asian currencies ticked higher on Friday while stocks were mixed, as US President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff policy fueled investor uncertainty in a turbulent week.
The Philippine peso rose 0.3 percent while the Taiwan dollar gained 0.1 percent. Inflation data from Taiwan is due later in the day.
Stocks in Jakarta were up 0.5 percent and on course to post a weekly rise of 6.1 percent, their biggest since March 2020. This follows a 7.8 percent decline last week.
Philippine stocks were up 1.3 percent, on track for their fifth straight day of gains, while Kuala Lumpur shares fell 0.7 percent to hit a one-month low.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) maintained its key overnight policy rate on Thursday for the eleventh consecutive meeting. Central banks in Indonesia and Thailand have cut interest rates so far this year.
“The monetary policy stance appeared to position BNM as less pre-emptive than some ASEAN-6 central banks that have eased monetary policy this year to safeguard economic growth,” DBS analysts said in a note.
The Malaysian ringgit and the Indonesian rupiah gained 0.2 percent each. The rupiah was on track to rise 1.7 percent for the week, its biggest weekly gain since mid-September.
Trump on Thursday suspended the 25 percent tariffs he imposed earlier this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico until April 2 – the day he has threatened to impose a global regime of reciprocal tariffs on all US trading partners.
The Mexican peso rose 0.1 percent, following its 0.7 percent jump on Thursday. The US dollar index languished near four-month lows.
The ever-shifting US trade policy has sent global markets into a tailspin. Emerging Asian equity markets faced sizeable foreign investment withdrawals in February, driven by the potential for Trump’s policies to disrupt global economic growth.
