Dollar Firmer Against Most Asian FX

USD/Asia pairs are mostly higher in Monday dealings, as the USD sees further modest support following the consolidation at the end of last week. Signs of weaker China retail and property related activity has weighed, albeit not uniformly, across the region. USD/CNH has recovered further, but found selling interest above 7.1800. The data calendar for tomorrow is very light.

• USD/CNH sits slightly down from session highs (7.1814), last tracking in the 7.1740/50 region. Onshore equities are tracking lower by more than 1% at this stage. HK markets are out due to a storm, which is likely impacting CNH liquidity. Equity weakness, coupled with mixed data earlier is likely weighing. Soft points in terms of retail spending and housing activity are likely to see stimulus calls persisted with. The CNY fixing was set firmer, but at the narrowest level (relative to expectations since late June), which is likely to weighed on CNH as well.
• The Rupee is little changed in early dealing in a muted start to the week's trade. USD/INR prints at 82.10/20, the pair rose ~0.1% on Friday paring some of the week's gain. Equity inflows by foreign investors continued with a $688.10 inflow on Thursday, this morning the total amount in July to ~$2.386bn. The local data docket is empty this week.
• The Ringgit is pressured in early trade on Monday as the greenback trims some of last weeks losses. USD/MYR is up ~0.7% last printing 4.5570/4.5620, the Ringgit is paring some of its post US CPI outperformance. Looking ahead the only data on the docket this week is June Trade Balance which crosses on Thursday. A surplus of MYR18.70bn is expected.
• The SGD NEER (per Goldman Sachs estimates) is little changed, the measure sits a touch off cycle highs and is ~0.3% below the top of the band. USD/SGD printed its lowest level since early February on Friday before marginally paring losses. We sit at $1.3220/30, broad USD trends continue to dominate with the pair falling ~3% from the high on July 6. Singapore Export data cross this morning, Non-Oil Exports grew 5.4 M/M in June beating expectations. In the month exports to China grew 3.7%, which likely contributed to the strong Q2 GDP print on Friday. Looking ahead the local data calendar is empty for the remainder of the week.
• USD/IDR spot has edged back to the 14995/00 level in latest dealings. We have moved off intra-day highs of 15009 to 15000 post a better than expected trade surplus for June. It printed at $3460mn, versus $1162mn expected and $430mn prior. This was largely due to a slump in imports (-18.35% y/y, -4.20% forecast), with export growth also faltering to -21.18% y/y (-17.80% forecast and 0.93% prior).
  USD/IDR is back above the 50-day EMA (around 14978), but still sub the 20-day at this stage (~15009).
• USD/PHP has backed away from earlier highs around 54.51. The pair last at 54.40. Remittances were weaker than expected at 2.8% y/y, versus 4.5% projected. New BSP Governor Eli Remolona spoke late last week, indicating the central bank is not yet contemplating rate cuts, as inflation remains above the target band still. The central bank maintains a tightening watch and is watching for upside inflation risks from el nino and wage hikes.