TWD Leads Gains, KRW On Track For Weekly Loss

Risk sentiment was boosted after reports that US President Biden had talked with his Chinese counterpart Xi with a positive outcome, while reports were generic the prospect of increased direct dialogue between the two Presidents supported Asia EM currencies.

• CNH: Offshore yuan is higher, reversing early losses after reports that US President Biden and Chinese President Xi had agreed to a more open dialogue going forward.
• SGD: Singapore dollar gained, despite a rise in coronavirus cases there is an expectation that Singapore will press ahead with its reopening plans.
• TWD: Taiwan dollar rose and was the best performer in Asia. Taiwan received a second shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines donated by its private sector yesterday. Markets await a sales update from TSMC.
• KRW: Won is slightly stronger, reversing early losses but still on track for a weekly decline. There were 1,892 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from over 2,000 in each of the past two days.
• MYR: Ringgit gained, BNM left the Overnight Policy Rate unchanged at 1.75%, in line with expectations, they were positive on the reopening but noted risks were tilted to the downside. Elsewhere data during the session showed industrial production fell 5.2% in July, a deeper drop than estimated.
• IDR: Rupiah is higher, Indonesia and Australia announced Thursday that they will bolster bilateral cooperation on a number of fronts, including defence ties.
• PHP: Peso rose, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte said that she will no longer seek to succeed her father in 2022 after he announced his vice-presidential bid. Sara Duterte, who was frontrunner in opinion polls, said that they have a family agreement not to run in the same presidential election.
• THB: Baht is slightly higher. PM Prayuth chairs the meeting of Thailand's national Covid-19 task force today. The panel will review the current situation and look into existing control measures