* Graphic: World FX rates tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks tmsnrt.rs/3f2vwbA
* Philippine stocks recover after 3.6% drop on Mon
* Thai baht firms; BOT seen holding rates on Wed
* Indonesian rupiah eases, weak Q2 GDP data expected on Wed
By Rashmi Ashok
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Share markets in Indonesia and the
Philippines recovered more than 1% on Tuesday after sharp falls
a day earlier, as strong U.S. manufacturing data and gains on
Wall Street countered worries over surging coronavirus cases at
home.
Both benchmarks sank on Monday after
Indonesia and the Philippines extended their lockdowns.
A number of analysts have said the second round of
restrictions will spell more economic pain than the first, given
that corporate cash reserves have now dried up and many citizens
are already out of work.
Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at
OANDA said that Monday's U.S. PMI survey had propped up
expectations that a modest global recovery was on the way. But,
he reckoned the gains in Philippines and Indonesia could be
bargain hunting, and could quickly evaporate.
"The flows look very much like fast money and it wouldn't
take much to send them scurrying for the exit doors just as
quickly," he added.
Monday's survey showed U.S. manufacturing activity expanded
in July at the fastest pace in more than a year, pushing Wall
Street shares higher.
The dollar was again weak, helping most Asian currencies to
gain ground, with the Thai baht firming 0.4% to 31.1
ahead of a central bank monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
The Bank of Thailand is expected to stand pat on rates,
having cut three times this year to an all-time low of 0.50%.
"We consider the BoT's rate cut cycle has bottomed (out). An
on-hold policy rate at the current level for the foreseeable
future remains our baseline through 2021, at the least," ING
said in a note.
The Indonesian rupiah weakened 0.3% ahead of the
release on Wednesday of second quarter gross domestic product
(GDP) data that is expected to show the economy's biggest
contraction in more than two decades.
Combined with weak July inflation data released on Monday,
the data is expected to fuel bets on another central bank rate
cut.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Top gainers on the Singapore STI include Jardine
Cycle & Carriage Ltd up 4.28% and Jardine Matheson
Holdings Ltd up 2.74%
** Top gainers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index
include Genting Bhd adding 1.91% and PPB Group Bhd
up 1.72%
** Thailand's 3-year benchmark yield climbed 1 basis points
to 0.555%, while Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields fell 0.9
basis points to 5.339%
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0358 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCK STOCKS
DAILY YTD % S YTD %
% DAILY
%
Japan -0.15 +2.37 1.42 -4.85
China +0.02 -0.25 0.09 10.52
India +0.00 -4.84 0.51 -10.04
Indonesia -0.27 -4.93 0.98 -19.75
Malaysia +0.17 -2.99 -0.68 -1.69
Philippines -0.02 +3.16 1.08 -26.07
S.Korea -0.03 -3.13 1.03 3.49
Singapore +0.00 -2.30 0.73 -22.33
Taiwan +0.39 +2.35 1.00 5.34
Thailand +0.42 -3.83 0.64 -15.83
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok; editing by Patrick Graham and Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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