(Updates for afternoon trade)
*
South Korea stocks end lower for second straight session
*
Bank Indonesia keeps rates steady, as expected
*
Markets await Nvidia (NVDA) results
By Roshan Thomas
Nov 19 (Reuters) -
Jakarta stocks edged higher and the rupiah held steady on Wednesday after Bank Indonesia left its benchmark rate unchanged as expected, while equities in Taiwan and South Korea slipped ahead of Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings.
The rupiah, up 0.3% before the decision, was little changed afterward, while the Jakarta Composite Index last traded up 0.4%.
Bank Indonesia
kept its key interest rates unchanged
for a second time, prioritising the transmission of earlier rate cuts as renewed rupiah weakness complicates its easing path. The currency is the worst-performing in emerging Asia this year, down 3.6% against the U.S. dollar since January.
The rate hold may have helped rein in rupiah weakness for now, with BI signalling the move was consistent with its near-term focus on currency stability, said Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG in Singapore.
Investors are now awaiting AI-darling Nvidia's (NVDA) results later in the day, which happens to be a key test of sentiment at the heart of the AI boom that may set the next direction for markets.
Nvidia (NVDA), which supplies graphics processing units, or GPUs, behind modern AI systems, has been a key driver of a global market rally that pushed equities to record highs and lifted stocks even loosely tied to the AI theme.
Stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea lost 0.7% and 0.6% respectively, with the latter dropping over 2.5% earlier in the session.
Losses in major tech stocks weighed, as Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) dropped 3.3% and SK Hynix declined 4.2%. LG Energy Solution eased 3.3%.
"Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings are a critical driver for tech-heavy Asian markets such as Taiwan and South Korea, where equity performance is closely linked to the global outlook for AI and chip demand," Chan said.
"A stronger-than-expected earnings result would help lift market sentiment, while a weaker print could trigger net foreign equity outflows."
Elsewhere, Thailand's SET index was little changed, while Philippine shares rose 1%.
Currency markets in Asia largely slipped against a steady dollar index. The South Korean won slipped 0.3%, while the Philippine peso and the Thai baht each edged 0.2% and 0.1% lower.
The Singapore dollar and Taiwan dollar were little changed.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Malaysia's October exports rise 15.7% y/y, above forecast
** BOJ's Ueda to meet finance, economy ministers on Wednesday, MOF says
** Thai industrial sentiment falls in October
** Vietnam
raises
$350 mln in govt bond auction, highest amount in six months
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0804 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
% DAILY YTD %
%
Japan +0.01 +1.09 -0.34 21.67
China India +0.13 -3.25 0.42 10.04
Indones +0.27 -3.59 0.47 18.66
ia
Malaysi +0.39 +7.82 0.45 -1.28
a
Philipp -0.18 -1.40 0.99 -10.95
ines
S.Korea Singapo -0.05 +4.83 0.11 19.06
re
Taiwan -0.12 +4.89 -0.66 15.39
Thailan -0.12 +5.85 0.02 -9.28
d
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nivedita Bhattacharjee )
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