THB Outperforms, PHP Lags

Asia FX has been mixed today. USD/CNH has tracked very tight ranges, remaining above 6.7600. THB has outperformed on renewed tourism hopes and calls for caution around BoT intervention. PHP has been a laggard though on disappointing domestic data. Singapore and Indian markets are closed today.

• CNH: USD/CNH is range bound once again. We are holding close 6.7600, with an earlier high above 6.7650 not sustained. The CNY fixing was weaker than expected but hasn't had a lasting impact on sentiment. China equities are firmer but gains are less than 0.30% at this stage.
• KRW: USD/KRW has probed higher, but within recent ranges. Local shares have shrugged off the sales warning from Nvidia in the US, with the Kospi up 0.4% at this stage. The 1 month NDF got as high as 1307, but we are now back sub 1305.
• TWD: USD/TWD has drifted back below 30.00 in terms of spot and the 1 month NDF. Local shares are higher, with the Taiex at +0.20% at this stage. Rhetoric around China's continued military drills remains high but market concern around tensions is not ratcheting higher.
• IDR: Spot USD/IDR trades -12.5 figs at IDR14,865, which sees bears set their sights on the 50-DMA/Jul 29 low at IDR14,843/14,833. Palm oil futures have extended yesterday's gains this morning. The contract for October delivery trades +MYR111/MT at MYR4,182/MT. Note that Indonesia lowered the minimum taxable export price of crude palm oil to $680/ton from $750/ton, which takes effect today.
• THB: The baht cements its early gains, comfortably outperforming all of its regional peers. Spot USD/THB last deals -0.27 at THB35.495, consolidating below its 50-DMA (35.54). FinMin Arkhom's called for a modest pace of monetary policy normalisation, while also cautioning against aggressive baht intervention. These latter comments, along with renewed optimism around the tourism outlook, have aided the baht. We saw just over $126mn in net equity inflows yesterday.
• PHP: The Peso has been a laggard, hit by the double headwinds of the GDP miss and wider than expected trade deficit. The Philippines economy registered a surprise quarterly contraction in Q2, shrinking 0.1% Q/Q versus BBG median estimate of a 0.4% expansion. The trade deficit widened to $5.843bn in June versus BBG median estimate of $5.427bn. The USD/PHP 1 month NDF is back to 55.65/70, +0.30% on the day.