Larger Asia Markets Resilient; Currencies Gain Strength

Larger markets in Asia showed resilience Tuesday despite a selloff in the emerging world, as shares were broadly mixed and local currencies gained some strength.

The Hang Seng Index Index reversed Monday's steep losses and was recently up 0.5%; the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average was recently down 0.1% even the yen rose 0.5% against the U.S. dollar. The pair was last trading at 108.04 yen; it crossed the critical ¥ 108 mark earlier in the morning session.

"I don't think the dollar's uptrend will be disrupted easily, but it would not be a surprise to see an adjustment of speed," said Takuya Kanda, a senior researcher at Gaitame.Com Research Institute. Investors took profits in the currency pair after it touched a five-month high of ¥ 108.54 overnight, he said.

The S&P/ASX 200 was recently down 0.4%, following an overnight decline in commodity prices. BHP Billiton was 0.6% lower and Rio Tinto fell 0.7%. Korea's Kospi recently gained 0.2% after opening lower.

Broadly speaking, Asian currencies got a reprieve Tuesday morning. The Thai baht and the Taiwan dollar were up 0.4% against the U.S. dollar, according to Thomson Reuters. The Indonesian rupiah, which has been battered by outflows seeking higher yielding U.S. assets, was up 0.2%. The Malaysian ringgit was about flat and the Korean won was up 0.1%.

Last week, traders in Asia were optimistic that the policies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would lift Asian markets and economies, according to Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at forex broker AxiTrade. Mr. Trump has promised to roll out fiscal stimulus, lower corporate taxes and increase infrastructure spending.

That optimism turned sour after U.S. Treasury yields jumped, which had the effect of pulling cash from emerging markets in Asia. Investors bet that Trump-driven inflation would give the U.S. Federal Reserve room to rapidly raise interest rates.

Hiroyuki Kachi contributed to this article.

Write to Kenan Machado at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2016 22:15 ET (03:15 GMT)

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