* Philippines c.bank sees 2021 economic growth of 6-7%
* Taiwan Stocks hit record high
* Regional shares track global markets higher
By Harish Sridharan
April 22 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks .PSI slipped on
Thursday amid worries the economy may not rebound as strongly as
expected from its pandemic-driven slump, trailing other emerging
Asian share markets which bounced after steep losses in the last
session.
The U.S. dollar held near multi-week lows, helping regional
currencies firm across the board. The South Korean won
KRW=KFTC and the Malaysian Ringgit MYR= led gains as they
strengthened 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.
Philippines' central bank governor said on Wednesday that a
two-week lockdown of the capital Manila earlier this month will
likely slow full-year economic growth to 6%-7%, compared with
its earlier forecast of 6.5%-7.5%. One of the fastest growing economies before the pandemic,
the Philippines is currently facing one of the worst COVID-19
outbreaks in Asia, and its recovery from a record economic
contraction last year is in danger of being derailed.
Stocks in Manila .PSI weakened 0.8%, while the peso PHP=
underperformed its peers to trade roughly flat.
"The main domestic risk factor is still the pandemic drag,"
Maybank analysts said in a note.
Despite a surging sedcond wave of infections, Maybank
analysts still expected the peso to hold its ground for now.
Separately, the government said it had priced a 2.1 billion
euro ($2.5 billion) bond offering to help fund budget spending.
Equities across Southeast Asia took their lead from a rise
in global stocks, even as worries of rising COVID-19 cases in
some parts of the world remained. GLOB/MKTS
Stocks in Taiwan jumped as much as 1.3% to a record high,
while those in Malaysia .KLSE and Singapore .STI also bagged
gains.
Investors also look ahead to the European Central Bank
meeting and U.S. jobs data later today.
In Thailand, benchmark bond yields TH10YT=RR eased 4 basis
points to 1.68%.
Duncan Tan, a strategist at DBS Bank, said he was surprised
by the extent of the recent selloff in Thai bonds, adding that
there was likely some uncertainty around demand for "destination
bonds" given Thailand's tourism-reliant economy.
He also pointed to the Bank of Thailand's (BoT) management
of bills and bond flows to support larger-than-usual government
financing needs since last year. "In the current environment, where we are seeing supply
strains show up at bond auctions across various Asian markets,
BoT's active management can be a differentiator for Thai bonds'
outlook," Tan said.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are down 4
basis points at 1.68%
** Top gainers on the Singapore STI .STI was Comfortdelgro
Corporation Ltd CMDG.SI , up 2.29%
** Chih Lien IND 2024.TW was among the top gainers on the
benchmark .TWII
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0430 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCK
DAILY YTD % X DAILY S YTD
% % %
Japan JPY= +0.08 -4.37 <.N2 2.03 5.99
25>
China
(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)