BLBG:Asian Currencies Fall, led by Ringgit, as China Data Dims Export Outlook
Asian currencies weakened after reports over the weekend showed China’s economy slowed last month, damping the demand outlook for the region’s exports.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index (ADXY) snapped a three- day advance after China said on March 10 that its trade deficit in February was the widest in at least 22 years. Overseas sales from Asia’s largest economy rose 18.4 percent, less than the 31 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Demand for the dollar improved after the U.S. Labor Department said March 9 that nonfarm payrolls rose 227,000 last month, following a revised 284,000 jump in the previous month.
“We’ve seen weaker data in Asia led by China,” said Thomas Harr, head of Asian currency strategy at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “It’s weighing on the currency markets.”
Malaysia’s ringgit slid 0.5 percent to 3.0245 per dollar as of 10:23 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. South Korea’s won declined 0.4 percent to 1,122.05, Indonesia’s rupiah fell 0.4 percent to 9,156 and China’s yuan slumped 0.22 percent to 6.3244.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of stocks snapped a two-day gain. China said on March 10 its trade shortfall in February was $31.4 billion.
The yuan dropped by the most since Jan. 20, abetted by the People’s Bank of China’s decision to weaken its daily reference rate by 0.33 percent to 6.3282 per dollar. That was the biggest reverse since August 2010.
Malaysian Output Slowing
Demand for the greenback improved after the better-than- expected jobs data damped speculation the Federal Reserve will further ease monetary policy to spur the world’s biggest economy. U.S. retail sales increased 1.1 percent in February, the most in five months, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey before Commerce Department figures due tomorrow.
“The dollar strengthened as the report pared market expectation of another round of quantitative easing,” Kuala Lumpur-based Hong Leong Bank Bhd. said in a research note to clients today.
The ringgit fell the most in a week before data today that is forecast to show industrial output grew the least in six months. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict production at factories, utilities and mines rose 0.9 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with a 3 percent gain in December.
Thailand’s baht dropped 0.2 percent to 30.64 per dollar before a government report today that may show exports failed to grow in January, after shrinking 2 percent in December, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
“Thai exports will be quite bumpy,” said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “China’s data has renewed concerns and the bigger picture globally remains pretty soft.”
Elsewhere, Taiwan’s dollar was little changed at NT$29.512 against its U.S. counterpart. The Philippine peso dropped 0.3 percent to 42.69 and Vietnam’s dong was steady at 20,830.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net.
