USD/CNH Resistance Ahead Of 7.00 Doesn't Prevent Dollar Gains Elsewhere

USD/Asia pairs are higher across the board, albeit to varying degrees. USD/CNH is up modestly, with some potential resistance ahead of the 7.00 handle. KRW, PHP and THB have all fallen sharply. Weaker equities, amid on-going US yield strength continues to benefit the USD. The main focus tomorrow will be on Q4 GDP out of India, with Singapore unemployment figures also out, along with Thailand trade and IP figures.

• USD/CNH dipped to 6.9650 in the first part of trade, but rebounded towards 6.9900 before selling interest capped the pair. The CNY fixing remains neutral, while onshore and HK equities struggle for positive traction.
• Spot USD/KRW is above 1320, with the 1 month NDF not far behind, which is around 0.5% weaker (in won terms) relative to Friday closing levels. Weaker onshore equities have hurt sentiment and we are now through the simple 100 and 200-day MAs. The authorities haven't made comments on FX markets so far today.
• INR has been resilient in recent trade, with the USD/INR respecting narrow ranges as the Rupee outperforms its Asia peers. The INR NEER continues to climb, now back at 67.30 (J.P. Morgan Index), highs back to early Dec last year. Headlines crossed earlier that the RBI was likely selling USDs via State Banks (Reuters). We got to 82.95, but now sit slightly lower. Clearly there is still some resistance to a break through of 83.00. Technically the pair remains in a bullish trend, bulls still target high from October at 83.17.
• The SGD NEER (per Goldman Sachs estimates) is marginally firmer today. NEER currently sits around ~0.5% below the top of the trading band, similar levels to Friday's session. USD/SGD is little changed today, last printing at $1.3500/05. The pair saw resistance ahead of the 50-day EMA on Friday ($1.3518). Bulls still look to target the 200-day EMA at $1.3636. Bears first look to break the 20-day EMA at $1.3349 to turn the tide.
• Spot USD/PHP is noticeably firmer today. The pair up around 1.15% at this stage, taking us back to 55.50/55. This is fresh highs back to early Jan. Note onshore markets were closed on Friday, so some of this reflects catch up given the generally supportive USD backdrop. The 100-day EMA is nearby, just under 55.60. Note the simple 200-day MA sits slightly higher at 55.75. PHP is one of three EM Asia currencies to still show positive gains for 2023 to date (with IDR and TWD being the others). There still seems scope for USD/PHP to catch up to the topside, given the rebound in core yields, particularly in the US. The Philippines current account/trade deficit position should still leave it vulnerable to such moves.