Mixed USD/Asia Trends, CNH Maintains Tight Ranges

USD/Asia pairs are mixed in the first part of Thursday trade. CNH remains steady, as it has largely done for much of the past week. KRW is marginally stronger, but remains within recent ranges. PHP has firmed, while INR is higher as the interim Indian budget is being delivered. Tomorrow is a quieter one from the data standpoint, with the main focus likely to rest on the South Korea CPI print.

• CNH vol remains quite low. USD/CNH sits near 7.1900, little changed for the session but supported on dips. Local equities are higher on supportive comments from the Finance Ministry around tech support and broader fiscal growth aiding the demand recovery. We are away from best levels though. The Caixin Jan manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 50.8.
• 1 month USD/KRW sits lower, but hasn't been able to sustain sub 1330 levels. Local equities have risen strongly, as the Government pledged to resolved the "Korea Discount" in stock markets. The Kospi last up 1.6%. BoK Governor Rhee also pushed back against easing expectations, stating the central bank will have to stay restrictive for a while. Earlier Jan export data was close to expectations. Headline export growth was inflated by the higher day count, but the export trend looks reasonable.
• Spot USD/INR is down marginally, last under 83.00. We remain within recent ranges, as mid Jan lows came in at 82.77. Local equities are volatile as the Interim Budget gets delivered. On the data front, the Jan F PMI read for manufacturing was 56.5, versus 56.9 prior.
• USD/PHP is down around 0.3%, last near 56.15. The oil price pull back has likely helped. The simple 200-day MA is near 55.94, while recent highs have been marked just above 56.50.
• In Indonesia, January CPI was close to Bloomberg consensus with headline slightly higher at 2.6% but in line with December and core slightly lower at 1.7% down from 1.8%. Bank Indonesia’s (BI) target band has shifted down 0.5pp for 2024 to 1.5%-3.5% but inflation is well within the lower range. USD/IDR is little changed, last tracking near 15775.