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* Philippine stocks hit lowest since May 27
* S. Korea tightens virus curbs on gatherings beyond Seoul
* Indonesian rupiah eases; central bank meet on Thursday
By Anushka Trivedi
July 19 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets and currencies saw
heavy losses on Monday as some countries in the region tightened
COVID-19 curbs to tackle a highly contagious Delta
variant-fuelled surge of infections that sparked a sell-off in
risky assets.
Manila shares slid 1.6%, slumping for a third day
after last week's detection of a Delta variant infection spurred
extension of stay-at-home orders, while Singapore,
Thailand and South Korea's equities fell 1%
each.
Among currencies, the South Korean won declined
0.7% to lead losses on widened curbs beyond Seoul, the capital,
while the baht, the peso and the ringgit
eased between 0.2% and 0.3%.
Coronavirus infections have risen even in nations with high
vaccination rates, such as Britain and the United States, while
Asia is still grappling with a slow inoculation pace and tough
curbs, clouding its prospects for near-term growth.
"Asia macro continues to face multiple drags," Deutsche Bank
analysts said in a note.
They cited the stop-start nature of curbs forced by
recurring waves and newer COVID-19 variants and lack of policy
space, both monetary and fiscal, to support growth.
Unlike the central banks of developed economies that are
considering paring back stimulus, those of emerging Asia are
forced to stay accommodative as their economic situation remains
unstable.
One exception was Bank of Korea, which is expected to raise
interest rates this year as strength in the country's trade
prompted its central bank to take a hawkish stance.
As Indonesia prepared to extend curbs amid climbing death
toll, the rupiah dropped 0.2% but strong-bond buying
limited losses. Yield on the 10-year benchmark bond
was down 9.4 basis points at 6.343%, its lowest since June 11.
Fluctuation in the U.S. Treasury yields recently has propped
up Indonesia's debt, but foreign investor faith is on the
decline though yields will not fall below 6.20% as most of the
participation seems to be by domestic actors, TD Securities
analysts said in a note.
Bank Indonesia will meet for a policy review on Thursday,
where it is expected to hold rates to avoid further weakness in
the rupiah and may instead step up intervention to stabilise it,
the brokerage added.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields are down 10.6 basis
points at 4.475%
** Top losers on the Singapore STI include: Sembcorp
Industries Ltd down 1.9% and CapitaLand Integrated
Commercial Trust down 1.9%
** In the Philippines, top index losers are Bloomberry
Resorts Corp down 5.7% and Robinsons Land Corp
down 4.8%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0649 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS
YTD %
Japan +0.09 -6.13 -1.25 0.76
China -0.05 +0.72 0.01 1.92
India -0.26 -2.26 -0.68 13.11
Indonesia -0.17 -3.31 -0.81 0.74
Malaysia -0.28 -4.72 0.63 -5.85
Philippines -0.24 -4.87 -1.59 -7.74
S.Korea -0.72 -5.37 -1.00 12.90
Singapore -0.13 -2.78 -0.89 9.86
Taiwan -0.18 +1.53 -0.59 20.75
Thailand -0.33 -8.80 -0.98 7.56
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
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