*
South Korea, Taiwan stocks fall on AI profitability fears
*
Indonesia stocks hit record high before reversing gains
*
Philippine central bank decision awaited later in the day
By Shivangi Lahiri
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian equity markets traded mixed on
Thursday, while currencies held steady as market participants digested
less-hawkish-than-feared comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
after a widely expected interest rate cut.
The broader MSCI index of emerging Asia equities was down
0.7% and an index tracking Asian equities outside Japan was 0.5%
lower, hurt by South Korean and Taiwanese stocks, after cloud computing giant
Oracle sounded a warning for AI profitability.
The U.S. cloud computing giant's disappointing earnings added to fears of
overvaluation in the AI sector, triggering a pullback in tech-heavy Asian
indexes such as South Korea and Taiwan.
Stocks in Jakarta climbed as much as 0.9% to hit a record high
before reversing gains, while equities in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
rose 0.3% each.
Among currencies in the region, Malaysia's ringgit rose 0.3% after
three straight sessions of losses, while the Singapore dollar was
marginally lower against a weaker U.S. dollar.
The greenback was on the back foot after the Fed's 25-basis-point rate cut
and Powell's comments at his post-meeting press conference were perceived as
less hawkish than expected, firming bets of two more rate cuts next year.
Steven Dooley, head of market insights at Convera, said rising odds of a
rate cut in early 2026 would boost global liquidity and help emerging Asian
assets "play catch-up".
Elsewhere, the Philippine peso slipped, while stocks rose 0.4%
ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) rate decision later in the day.
A Reuters poll showed economists expected the central bank to deliver a
25-bp rate cut, citing weak growth and easing inflation, with at least one more
reduction seen early next year.
Stocks in Thailand were down 1.2% as trading resumed after a holiday
on Wednesday, while the baht eased 0.1%.
Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia entered its fourth day as both sides
waited for a promised telephone call from U.S. President Donald Trump.
($1 = 4.1050 ringgit)
HIGHLIGHTS:
** US bombers join Japanese jets in show of force after China-Russia drills,
Tokyo says
** Mexico's Senate passes tariff hikes on Chinese, other Asian imports
** Hong Kong central bank cuts interest rate, tracking Fed move
** ADB approves $500 mln loan to support a sustainable Philippine blue
economy
Asia stock indexes
and currencies at
0421 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
% DAILY YTD %
%
Japan +0.17 +0.92 -1.09 27.45
China India -0.17 -5.00 0.07 9.01
Indonesi +0.09 -3.45 -0.31 22.52
a
Malaysia +0.27 +8.84 0.32 -1.60
Philippi -0.05 -1.77 0.42 -8.33
nes
S.Korea Singapor -0.10 +5.50 0.33 19.51
e
Taiwan +0.03 +5.07 -1.17 21.85
Thailand -0.09 +7.97 -1.24 -10.43
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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