* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3lKhL5I
* Taiwanese dollar, S.Korean won climb 1%
* RBI holds rates as expected
By Shashwat Awasthi
Dec 4 (Reuters) - Philippine shares snapped a three-day
winning run on Friday, hit by a forecast of a deeper economic
contraction in the country this year and news that U.S.
drugmaker Pfizer Inc PFE.N had halved its COVID-19 vaccine
production target for 2020.
Trading across other emerging Asian stock markets remained
mixed as sentiment around downbeat vaccine headlines was partly
offset by hopes that a U.S. coronavirus aid plan would be pushed
through Congress. Stocks in Indonesia .JKSE and Malaysia .KLSE fell 0.4%,
while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 climbed 1.6% to a record as
shares of chipmakers continued to strengthen.
Manila shares .PSI dropped 0.7% and the peso PHP= eased
after officials on Thursday forecast a 8.5%-9.5% contraction in
the economy, compared with a previous forecast of a 5.5%
decline. The Philippine economy, one of Asia's fastest-growing before
the pandemic, is still expected to rebound strongly over the
next two years and recent upbeat manufacturing and jobs data has
supported the recovery view.
Raul Ruiz, head of research at RCBC Securities, said vaccine
headlines were heavily affecting sentiment as investors had
turned their attention to the speed and magnitude of recovery in
2021.
"In this regard, news that the distribution of Pfizer's
vaccine would be constrained by supply chain issues probably has
more bearing on the market," Ruiz said, also attributing the
fall to profit-taking after a 15% rally in stocks since October.
Indian shares .NSEI advanced, largely unaffected after the
Reserve Bank of India, as widely expected, left its repo rate
unchanged at the end of a three-day policy meeting on Friday.
"The evolving growth-inflation mix suggest that the (Indian)
central bank monetary policy committee would prefer to settle
into a long pause, with a bias to anchor rates through strong
dovish guidance," strategists at Singapore bank DBS said.
Among currencies, the Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP and the
South Korean won KRW=KFTC each jumped more than 1%, while
others failed to make significant headway despite the U.S.
dollar's woes. FRX/
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 3-year benchmark yields are down 3.6 basis
points at 4.796%
** In the Philippines, top index losers are SM Prime
Holdings SMPH.PS , down 2.82%, Aboitiz Equity Ventures
AEV.PS , off 2.19% and SM Investments SM.PS , down 2.01%
** Top losers on the Jakarta stock index include NFC
Indonesia NFCX.JK , down 6.67%, Protech Mitra Perkasa
OASA.JK , off 6.63% and Kedaung Indah Can KICI.JK , down 6.47%
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0423 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDE STOCK STOC
DAILY % X S KS
% DAILY YTD
% %
Japan JPY= -0.04 +4.56 <.N2 -0.38 12.9
25> 0
China