Delta Variant Concerns Weigh

A mostly negative day as most EM Asia economies remain in the thralls of the delta variant.

• CNH: Offshore yuan is stronger, USD/CNH retreated after the first half of this week failed to bring a break above the 6.50 mark. The PBOC fix fell virtually in line with sell-side estimate.
• SGD: Singapore dollar is weaker, the government will tighten restrictions again from Thursday as new cases hit a record daily high.
• KRW: Won is weaker, reversing early gains as markets chose to focus on record coronavirus cases instead of robust PPI and export data
• TWD: Taiwan dollar is weaker, reversing earlier strength as USD/TWD retreats from the 28.00 handle. There were reports that Taiwan's decision to open an office in Lithuania under the name Taiwan (as opposed to Tapei) has angered China.
• MYR: Ringgit is weaker, falling to the lowest since August. New virus cases remain above 10k a day while the government relaxed virus protocols for businesses, amid an acceleration of domestic vaccination drive.
• IDR: Rupiah declined, an extension to the current curbs through Jul 25 was announced, while elsewhere the government outlined a plan to relax restrictions from Jul 26, if daily case count continues to fall.
• PHP: Peso is lower, shaking off early gains. Senate Pres Vicente Sotto III confirmed to CNN that he will team up with Senator Panfilo Lacson for the 2022 presidential election and they would be making a formal announcement early next month.
• THB: Baht fell, it was reported late on Tuesday that the state of emergency will run through to the end of September while the budget for the e-voucher programme will be reduced.