Asian currencies subdued, stocks mixed; focus on cenbank decisions
South Korea's won and Thailand's baht led declines among Asian currencies on Monday (24 April), while stocks in the region were largely mixed as investors continued to remain cautious ahead of major central bank monetary policy decisions.
The won <KRW=KFTC>, Asia's worst-performing currency so far this year, eased 0.4% and the baht <THB=TH> declined 0.2%.
Asian markets have largely been subdued for the past few weeks, with a lack of significant triggers keeping trading confined to narrow ranges.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"FX is likely to remain range-bound in the near future as markets are in a period of consolidation ahead of major central bank policy decisions with the BOJ the first due this Friday," analysts at Maybank wrote.
The Bank of Japan's policy meeting will mark the first meeting to be chaired by new Governor Kazuo Ueda.
Ueda is widely expected to maintain the BOJ's current ultra-easy policy, having reassured markets that any change in policy won't happen quickly.
Meanwhile, data released on Friday showed US business activity gathered pace in April, pushing back against concerns about an impending recession.
Markets will continue to focus on the US Federal Reserve's open market committee meeting next week, where policymakers are widely expected to raise rates by another 25 basis points.
Back in Asia, Singapore's dollar <SGD=> weakened 0.1%. Official data showed that the city-state's key consumer price gauge rose 5% in March, slightly lower than forecast.
Earlier this month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) left its policy settings unchanged for the first time since April 2021, reflecting concerns about the growth outlook.
"We expect to see inflation moderate in the coming months but the MAS may only consider adjusting its policy settings once inflation is close to or back to target," analysts at ING wrote.
MAS has projected a core inflation rate of between 3.5% to 4.5% in 2023, with headline inflation coming in at between 5.5% and 6.5%.
Equities in Seoul <.KS11> fell 0.8%. An advance estimate of the country's first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is due on Tuesday.
Shares in Manila <.PSI> and New Delhi <.NSEI> gained 0.9% and 0.1%, respectively, while markets in Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for the day.
