Tech Sensitive Currencies Outperform

USD/Asia pairs are down for the session, although we are away from lows, as some modest USD support emerged this afternoon. KRW and TWD were the standouts, as tech equity sentiment rallied. Gains were more modest elsewhere. Taiwan IP figures for Jan are still due today, while Singapore IP prints tomorrow. Malaysia CPI is also due.

• USD/CNH was firmer in the early part of trade, holding close to Wednesday highs around 6.9080, which also coincides with the simple 200-day MA. We got to a low of 6.8840, but now sit back at 6.8920/30. Onshore equities are struggling for positive traction.
• 1 month USD/KRW sank to a low of 1292.70, but we are now back closer to 1296. A hawkish BoK hold helped from a rate perspective, although the +1% rise in the Kospi amid renewed tech optimism post the Nvidia result was arguably the bigger driver.
• USD/TWD is also 0.50% lower in spot terms for the session, with the pair last at 30.36. The Taeix has performed slightly better +1.30%.
• INR has dealt in narrow ranges this week, following the broader USD trend seen in recent dealing. USD/INR prints at 82.75/80 ~0.1% softer in early dealing, in line with lower USD indices but lagging higher beta FX. There still appears to be resistance above the 82.90 level. Local equities are firmer today, but still close to month to date lows (Nifty around 17570). Offshore investors continued to move back into local equities in the first part of the week ($181.2mn).
• Singapore headline CPI came in noticeably weaker than expected. Still, core printed at 5.5% y/y, which was less of a downside miss (5.7% forecast). Also, the m/m core number rose by 0.82%, the strongest for this cycle. The m/m sequence has been picking up since the Oct 0.10% outcome last year. This result may not be enough to tip the MAS to further tightening in April, but the result was not as weak as the headline implied. USD/SGD is higher post the result, up from 1.3380 level to 1.3400, although the USD is firmer, so that has likely played a role. The SGD NEER is also off earlier highs.