Chinese Holiday Weighs On Activity, Peso Leads Gains In Asia EM Basket

Market holidays in China and Taiwan limited activity at the start to the week, as participants assessed geopolitical headlines from over the weekend.

• CNH: Offshore yuan weakened a tad in holiday-thinned trade.
• KRW: Spot USD/KRW traded on a firmer footing as the won came under pressure amid the risk of fresh sanctions against Russia. BoK Acting Gov Lee told senior central bank officials that Russia's war on Ukraine is a conundrum for policymakers, as it accentuates inflation pressures while weighing on economic growth.
• IDR: The rupiah traded sideways, with participants eyeing the release of local consumer confidence data later this week.
• MYR: Weaker oil prices applied some pressure to the ringgit, with spot USD/MYR building on its Friday's strength. UMNO SecGen confirmed that Malaysia's largest party will not cooperate with coalition partner Bersatu in the next general election.
• PHP: The Philippine peso outperformed in the region, with spot USD/PHP lodging a fresh one-month low. Up this week we have Philippine inflation, jobs and trade data.
• THB: The baht oscillated around neutral levels, ahead of today's comments from BoT Gov Sethaput & tomorrow's release of local CPI figures, with inflation expected to have accelerated further beyond the central bank's target range.