Won Leads Losses & Prints Cycle Low, Peso Cracks Through Key Support

Participants continued to assess the fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine, with inflation data from several Asian emerging economies providing regional points of note.

• CNH: Spot USD/CNH unwound its initial uptick and dipped into negative territory, while holding a fairly narrow range in the process. China begins its "Two Sessions" on Saturday, with the annual National People's Congress due to kick off with a keynote speech from Premier Li, who will outline economic targets for this year.
• KRW: South Korean won went offered, with spot USD/KRW printing its best levels since Jun 23, 2020. The won retreated on risk aversion, even as South Korea's CPI beat expectations. Headline inflation accelerated to +3.7% Y/Y in February, with core prices up 3.2% Y/Y.
• IDR: The rupiah was rangebound as local markets re-opened after a public holiday.
• MYR: Spot USD/MYR ground lower. Bank Negara Malaysia kept its main policy rate unchanged Thursday, while flagging the war in Ukraine as a key risk to the global growth outlook.
• PHP: Spot USD/PHP surged above the key PHP51.500 figure, hitting fresh one-year highs, as the Philippines' CPI inflation missed expectations. That level was associated with recent interventions by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and a key technical barrier. Gov Diokno noted that the central bank "continues to have a wide arsenal of policy instruments to respond" to the war in Ukraine.
• THB: Spot USD/THB erased its initial uptick. Thailand's CPI surged 5.28% Y/Y in February, smashing expectations, amid mounting concerns about rising living costs. Core prices rose 1.80% Y/Y, also beating consensus forecast.