* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Most equities, currencies muted following strong gains
* Philippines' Oct budget deficit raises concerns about
recovery
* Thai cenbank gov says speedy rise of baht causes concern
By Shruti Sonal
Nov 25 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian equities and
currencies pared gains on Wednesday as investors pulled back
from a rally driven by COVID-19 vaccine progress and the global
weakness of the dollar.
Higher-yielding currencies have gained strongly against the
greenback since Joe Biden was judged to have won the U.S.
presidency, spurring action from a number of major central banks
to stem gains that hurt competitiveness and growth.
Last week, central banks of the Philippines and Indonesia
delivered surprise rate cuts, while Thailand's central bank has
raised concerns over the speedy rise of the baht.
The Singapore dollar SGD= , Philippine peso PHP= ,
Malaysian ringgit MYR= and Indonesian rupiah IDR= trimmed
gains on Wednesday to trade flat. The Thai baht THB=TH edged
0.1% lower.
"Asian currencies are running into key technical and
psychological resistance levels following strong gains over
recent weeks," said Mitul Kotecha, senior EM strategist at TD
Securities.
"There is likely to be some pause for breath before
currencies extend gains," Kotecha said.
Stocks across the region have also been gaining in step with
Wall Street and other major markets, driven by expectations of
more U.S. fiscal stimulus and results suggesting working
COVID-19 vaccines may help the world economy recover next year.
That rally, however, was running out of steam across
markets, and Singapore .STI and Indonesia .JKSE both
reversed course to trade in the red by 0657 GMT, while Thai
shares .SETI pulled back from steep gains to trade 0.4%
higher.
"The rally has been a bit overstretched and what we're
seeing now is a pullback," said Joel Ng, a Singapore-based
analyst at KGI Securities.
The Philippine bourse .PSI declined 1.5% after the country
reported a budget deficit of 61.4 billion pesos ($1.28 billion)
for October, raising concerns about its road to recovery.
With government spending likely negative in the last three
months of 2020, fourth-quarter GDP will likely post a more
severe downturn from the 11.5% contraction in the third quarter,
analysts at ING warned.
Bucking the trend, Malaysian equities .KLSE held on to a
near 1% climb, with financials leading the gains.
A rise in Malaysian palm oil futures after consecutive
sessions of sharp losses also lifted index heavyweights such as
Sime Darby SIME.KL and Genting Bhd GENT.KL .
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0741 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY YTD % DAILY YTD %
% %
Japan JPY= +0.00 +4.00 .N225 0.50 11.16
China
($1 = 48.1170 Philippine pesos)