* Travel stocks propel Asian equities higher
* Indonesian rupiah at strongest level since June 18
* Philippine economy contracts in Q3
By Anushka Trivedi
Nov 10 (Reuters) - Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia led
stock market gains in Asia on Tuesday after results from a
late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial fuelled optimism about a
global reopening, which would help the region's tourism- and
trade-dependent economies.
Other emerging currency and equities also rose as the
vaccine news came right after Joe Biden's presidential election
win over the weekend eased U.S. political uncertainty.
Overnight, Wall Street benchmarks closed just shy of record
highs after drugmaker Pfizer PFE.N and its German partner
BioNTech BNTX.O said that a large-scale trial of their vaccine
showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
.N
Airline, cruise ship and hotel operators lifted share
markets in most of Asia, with Singapore .STI , Thailand .SETI
and Malaysia .KLSE indexes up between 1.5% to 2.9%.
"The clearing of the election fog has permitted underlying
market fundamentals to come back into focus, resulting in a
strong push upwards," Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal
Global Investors said.
"The most recent vaccine news suggests 'return to normality'
should be coming sooner rather than later... all the chips are
starting to line up, and market sentiment may be in the early
stages of a burst of positive energy."
Philippine equities .PSI rallied more than 3%, brushing
off a steep economic slump in the third quarter and helped by
government assurances that the economy would rebound in 2021.
Local currency markets also inched higher and the Taiwanese
dollar TWD=TP stood out with a 1% rise after the island
reported an expectation-beating surge in October exports.
Citi said it expected Taiwan's dollar to continue to
strengthen in the medium-term on its regional economic
outperformance.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR= , which has benefited from a
surge in bond inflows lately, firmed 0.3% to its highest since
June 18.
However, among global emerging markets, the Turkish lira
TRYTOM=D3 fell 2% against the dollar.
Global ratings agency S&P expressed concern about Turkey's
sudden replacement of its central bank governor and the
departure of its finance minister. ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields ID10YT=RR are down
3 basis points at 6.234%
** Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI soars 20% to near 5-month
high
** Malaysia top gainers: Genting Bhd GENT.KL up 15.1% and
Genting Malaysia Bhd GENM.KL up 12.3%, while glove makers Top
Glove TPGC.KL and Hartalega Holdings HTHB.KL slumped
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0317 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS YTD
DAILY % %
Japan JPY= +0.49 +3.59 .N225 1.08 6.14
China CNY=CFXS +0.18 +5.25 .SSEC -0.04 10.57
India INR=IN +0.00 -3.76 .NSEI 0.00 2.40
Indonesia IDR= +0.29 -0.93 .JKSE 1.49 -13.71
Malaysia MYR= -0.17 -0.58 .KLSE 1.60 -2.52
Philippine PHP= +0.03 +4.97 .PSI 3.51 -11.45
s
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.18 +3.63 .KS11 -0.10 11.25
Singapore SGD= +0.07 -0.14 .STI 2.90 -16.68
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.09 +5.59 .TWII -0.24 9.16
Thailand THB=TH +0.44 -1.66 .SETI 2.53 -16.55