USD/CNH Unwinds Friday Dip

USD/Asia pairs have tracked mostly higher today.

• CNH: USD/CNH has traded with a firmer bias through the afternoon. The pair is back around the 6.6600 level, having unwound all of the dip we saw on Friday. Equities are trading positive today though, following a further easing of restrictions in Beijing. However, the Caixin PMI was much weaker than expected and remains well below expansion territory at 41.4.
• KRW: Korean markets are closed today, but the 1 month USD/KRW NDF has pushed a little higher to 1253, around 0.15% higher than NY closing levels. Onshore spot closed last week at 1242.4.
• INR: USD/INR started softer, but is now drifting higher. Spot is back to 77.66, having spent very little time outside of the 77.50/77.70 range in the past few weeks. Higher oil prices continue to weigh though. Onshore covid cases are also trending higher.
• PHP: Spot USD/PHP extends gains after breaking key resistance from PHP52.500 towards the back end of last week. The rate last deals +0.04 at PHP52.906, hitting its best levels since Mar 2019. Higher oil is not helping. Looking ahead, the Philippine Statistics Authority will publish CPI data on Tuesday, with trade report and unemployment coming up on Thursday and Friday respectively.
• THB: USD/THB opened above 34.40 but has drifted down from this level. Headline CPI printed 7.1% versus 5.9% expected. Core also rose to 2.28% versus 2.20% forecast. This will be the last major data release ahead of Wednesday's monetary policy decision from the Bank of Thailand. All but two economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Bank to keep the benchmark policy rate unchanged.
• IDR: USD/IDR has drifted higher, spot pushing back towards 14470, around 0.20% above closing levels from last week. Foreign holdings of local bonds are tracking higher, albeit from low levels. There is little in the way of data this week, with FX reserves out on Wednesday and consumer confidence on Thursday.