Indonesian stocks, rupiah gain after surprise rate cut; Fed decision lifts Asian equities
Repeats, no change to text
Indonesia stocks touch record high
Bank Indonesia, Federal Reserve cut interest rates
Singapore stocks at over 6-yr high
Philippine stocks at highest since March 2022
By Roshan Thomas and Himanshi Akhand
Sept 19 (Reuters) -Indonesian stocks reached an all-time high and the rupiah advanced on Thursday after the country's central bank lowered interest rates in a surprise move, while other emerging Asian equities gained following the Federal Reserve's super-sized rate cut.
Indonesia's benchmark index .JKSE jumped as much as 0.9% to a record high of 7,902.121 points, and the rupiah IDR= rose as much as 0.4% to its highest level in over a year.
Bank Indonesia (BI) delivered its first rate cut in more than three years on Wednesday, trimming the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 6.00%, just hours ahead of the Fed rate decision as it moved to bolster economic growth amid rupiah stability.
"The surprise cut looks to have sent a positive signal to markets that BI may be increasingly confident that the global macro environment is becoming more supportive of the IDR," Maybank analysts said in a note.
They added that the positive signal of a cut from the BI was counteracting the Fed's "less than dovish easing" and lending support to the rupiah.
Bank Indonesia joins the Philippine central bank in easing their policy settings before the Fed, which lowered its window for the benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday.
Analysts believe the Fed's larger-than-usual rate cut to kick-off the much-anticipated easing cycle should make it easier for Asian central banks to follow suit.
"With the Fed now moving quite aggressively, the other Asian central banks will feel that they don't have that kind of worry of high US interest rates to contend with," Jeff Ng, head of Asia Macro Strategy at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation said.
Asian equities moved higher, with those in Manila .PSI gaining 1.1% to hover at their highest level in two and a half years. Equities in Taiwan .TWII and Thailand .SETI added 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively.
Singapore stocks .STI added 0.7% to trade at their highest level in more than six years and Indian stocks .NSEI jumped to their all-time high.
Regional currencies were largely subdued against the U.S. dollar, which rebounded from an initial dip following the Fed's rate cut. FRX/
The Malaysian ringgit MYR= and the South Korean won KRW=KFTC dipped 0.2% each.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesia's parliament passes Prabowo's maiden budget
** Thailand approves $400 mln investment by unit of China's Haier
** Vietnam removes pre-funding rule for foreigner investors in bid for market upgrade
Asian stocks and currencies at 0450 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | -0.63 | -1.47 | .N225 | 2.35 | 11.27 |
China | CNY=CFXS | -0.02 | +0.26 | .SSEC | 0.59 | -8.12 |
India | INR=IN | +0.10 | -0.54 | .NSEI | 0.63 | 17.51 |
Indonesia | IDR= | +0.29 | +0.72 | .JKSE | 0.77 | 8.48 |
Malaysia | MYR= | -0.24 | +7.95 | .KLSE | 0.13 | 14.31 |
Philippines | PHP= | +0.13 | -0.45 | .PSI | 1.07 | 12.13 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | -0.21 | -3.33 | .KS11 | 0.07 | -2.94 |
Singapore | SGD= | -0.02 | +1.85 | .STI | 0.72 | 11.66 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | +0.00 | -3.77 | .TWII | 1.23 | 22.39 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.04 | +2.47 | .SETI | 0.55 | 1.97 |
Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry
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