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FTSE delays index review for Indonesia
Thailand shares touch more than 1-year high
Asian currencies largely subdued; ringgit up 0.3%
By Sneha Kumar
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Thailand's benchmark hit a 14-month high on Tuesday as the prospect of political stability after elections lifted sentiment, while Indonesian stocks advanced for the second consecutive session.
Thailand's SET Index .SETI climbed for a third consecutive session, rising as much as 1% to its strongest level since mid-December 2024.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's Bhumjaithai Party clinched a stronger-than-expected general election victory on Sunday, cementing hopes of political stability and economic reforms.
DBS analysts noted that foreign portfolio inflows into Thailand have been supportive so far this year and are likely to continue, at least in the near term.
Net foreign inflows have reached 31.42 billion baht ($1 billion) so far this year as of February 9, with international investors posting net buying of 16.54 billion baht of shares on Monday alone, according to SET data.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index .JKSE added 1.2% as investors weighed FTSE Russell's decision to postpone a scheduled review for Indonesia.
The index provider flagged concerns similar to those raised by MSCI about how difficult it is to determine the levels of free-floating, or freely tradable, stock.
Last month, MSCI had warned of a potential downgrade to frontier-market status, citing transparency concerns, while Moody's lowered the country's credit rating outlook last week.
In Singapore, shares .STI were flat despite the trade ministry raising the country's growth forecast for this year to a range of 2% to 4% after a stronger-than-expected finish to 2025.
Elsewhere, a 3% rise in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 2330.TW propelled the broader benchmark .TWII 1.7% higher.
A media report suggested that the U.S. plans to exclude big techs such as Amazon AMZN.O, Google GOOGL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O from the upcoming tariffs on chips.
South Korean stocks .KS11 rose 0.5%, keeping their crown as the region's stand-out, with a 26.3% gain so far this year. Trailing behind, Taiwan and Thailand shares were up 13.7% and 11.5%, respectively, year-to-date.
Emerging market stocks and bonds are off to a strong start to the year following a stellar 2025, analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute wrote.
"We expect both EM stocks and bonds to be supported by resilient - if steady - global economic growth and a stable to softer U.S. dollar."
The dollar index =USD was slightly lower on the day, having lost more than 1% over the last three sessions.
However, currencies in Asia were largely subdued, with the Malaysian ringgit MYR= up 0.3%, the region's biggest gainer.
The Singapore dollar SGD=, South Korean won KRW=KFTC and the Philippine peso PHP= were largely unchanged.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Yield on Indonesia's 10-year benchmark bonds ID10YT=RR at 6.464%
** EU proposes sanctions on Georgian, Indonesian ports for handling Russian oil
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0456 GMT | ||||||
COUNTRY | FX RIC | FX DAILY % | FX YTD % | INDEX | STOCKS DAILY % | STOCKS YTD % |
Japan | JPY= | +0.44 | +0.95 | .N225 | 2.14 | 14.37 |
China | CNY=CFXS | +0.14 | +1.11 | .SSEC | -0.02 | 3.87 |
India | INR=IN | +0.07 | -0.90 | .NSEI | 0.32 | -0.69 |
Indonesia | IDR= | +0.00 | -0.74 | .JKSE | 1.18 | -6.01 |
Malaysia | MYR= | +0.25 | +3.42 | .KLSE | -0.24 | 3.99 |
Philippines | PHP= | +0.08 | +0.61 | .PSI | 1.56 | 6.53 |
S.Korea | KRW=KFTC | +0.00 | -1.25 | .KS11 | 0.49 | 26.34 |
Singapore | SGD= | +0.02 | +1.64 | .STI | -0.09 | 6.67 |
Taiwan | TWD=TP | -0.03 | -0.42 | .TWII | 1.65 | 13.73 |
Thailand | THB=TH | -0.18 | +0.98 | .SETI | 0.26 | 11.50 |
($1 = 31.1300 baht)
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)
((Sneha.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))
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