Won Stands Out In Mixed Asia Session

Market mood improved as Samsung reported a firmer than expected jump in revenue, which helped allay some of the worst recessionary fears. Meanwhile, a decline in U.S. Tsy yields sapped strength from the greenback, albeit not all Asia EM currencies managed to eke out gains.

• CNH: Offshore yuan caught a bid in line with regional trend, spot USD/CNH sank through yesterday's lows. The pair is poised to snap a two-day winning streak, despite a slightly weaker than expected (17-pip deviation) PBOC fix & worrying COVID-19 headlines out of China.
• KRW: The won outperformed as a 21% jump in Samsung's Q2 sales outweighed a miss in operating profit. The move higher in KRW may have been facilitated by South Korea's BoP current account balanced, which flipped into a surplus of $3.8599bn in May from a deficit of $79.3mn in April. Spot USD/KRW moved away from recent cyclical highs lodged Wednesday.
• MYR: The ringgit fell to its worst levels in more than two years as participants parsed Wednesday's decision from Bank Negara Malaysia to hike the main policy rate by 25bp, which was expected by most analysts. The Bank reaffirmed its intention to tighten monetary policy gradually.
• THB: The embrace of gradualism was evident in latest comments from BoT Asst Gov Piti, who called for caution in normalising monetary policy ("you need to reach takeoff velocity"). His comments appeared to weigh on the baht in early trade, sending it to six-year lows, but this initial weakness moderated as the session progressed.
• PHP: The peso was among the poorest performers in the region, with spot USD/PHP printing new 17-year highs. The pair was supported by Wednesday's remarks from FinSec Diokno, who revealed that the 2022 growth outlook for the Philippines may be worse than previously expected.
• INR: The rupee found poise following Wednesday's late-doors announcement from the RBI on a raft of measures to support the embattled currency. Spot USD/INR eased off near record highs.