Malaysian shares were boosted on Friday by a mega local merger of telecom giants Axiata and Telenor, while Asia’s emerging currencies buckled under pressure from a late pick-up in US bond yields and the dollar.
Even though the dollar was poised for its worst week so far this year, US bond yields remained elevated and Asian currencies were set for a mixed end to the week.
South Korea’s won, a beneficiary of improving global trade, and the Singapore dollar were on track to post weekly gains of about half a percent each, while Indonesia’s rupiah and the Thai baht were set for losses.
However, the greenback’s weakness this week has provided some respite to Asia’s risk-sensitive assets, with returns on the relatively high-yielding bonds in Indonesia and India falling sharply.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish comments overnight, especially given the recent unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims, supported Treasuries, said VenkateswaranLavanya, an analyst at Mizuho Bank.
In Malaysia, a deal between telecom firm Axiata Group and Norway’s Telenor ASA to combine their local mobile operations sent shares of Axiata and Telenor’s local arm Digi.com soaring, helping the broader market climb 0.5 percent. The Thai baht eased on Friday and was set to post a weekly drop of 0.5 percent. Stocks climbed 0.7 percent for the day.
