*
S. Korean stocks top weekly gainer
*
Taiwan equities set to rise for sixth week
*
Asia FX range bound
By Rishav Chatterjee
Oct 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks scaled fresh peaks on
Friday, capping a week in which most emerging Asian markets
notched gains as investors shrugged off U.S. government shutdown
fears and leaned into bets on a near-term Federal Reserve rate
cut.
The MSCI EM Asia Index eased slightly on the
day but remained on track for a weekly rise of 3.8%, set for its
biggest weekly increase since September 12.
A similar gauge, the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan
touched a record high and was set to advance
3.5% for the week.
Trading was muted on Friday, but regional stocks wrapped up
a strong week of risk appetite, lifted by upbeat local headlines
and renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence.
Emerging-market equities are still trading at a discount to
developed peers, at 12.4 times forward earnings - close to their
25-year average, said Charu Chanana, chief investment
strategist at Saxo.
With their share of global assets under management slipping
to 5% from 8% in 2017, the asset class remains under-owned and
could gain if investors rotate out of recent winners into
overlooked markets, she added.
Taiwan's benchmark climbed more than 1.3%, rising to
a record for a second day. The index is on track for its sixth
weekly gain, a run last seen in early 2024, powered by surging
demand for AI-linked semiconductor stocks.
South Korea's Kospi was closed on Friday, but was up
4.8% for the week as of Thursday.
Philippine and Indonesian shares rose 0.3%
each, while Malaysia slipped modestly but was still set
to end the week in positive territory. Manila equities were on
course to rise 0.5% for the week.
"Emerging markets are enjoying a structural and cyclical
tailwind, with earnings momentum and sector leadership in their
favor. But investors should remain alert to macro headwinds such
as tariffs and dollar swings that could test EM resilience into
year-end," added Chanana.
Trading in Asian currencies remained tepid on the day as the
dollar gained some momentum and traders expressed some caution
while assessing the impact of the U.S. government shutdown.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback
against a basket of currencies, fell most days this week and was
on track for a weekly drop of 0.3%.
In emerging Asia, the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian
ringgit edged down about 0.2% while the Philippine peso
gained 0.2%. The Taiwan dollar and Thai baht
were flat while Singapore's currency was down
0.1%.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark flat at 6.334%
** Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on
helping 20,000 displaced
Asia stock indexes
and currencies at
0406 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
% DAILY YTD %
%
Japan -0.23 +6.51 1.50 16.04
China India -0.07 -3.54 -0.16 4.87
Indonesi -0.12 -3.07 0.28 14.32
a
Malaysia -0.21 +6.08 -0.11 -0.38
Philippi +0.20 +0.26 0.28 -7.23
nes
S.Korea Singapor -0.05 +5.90 0.21 16.29
e
Taiwan +0.05 +7.83 0.86 15.50
Thailand +0.03 +5.78 0.37 -7.66
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by
Christian Schmollinger)
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