* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3lKhL5I
* South Korea stocks post sixth straight monthly gain
* India's central bank delays monetary policy meeting
Sept 29 (Reuters) - South Korea outperformed other emerging
Asian stock markets on Tuesday as overnight gains on Wall Street
lifted sentiment and investors looked to rebalance their books
into the month-end and a handful of regional holidays.
Shares in Seoul .KS11 , where the Chuseok holiday runs from
Wednesday to Friday, climbed 0.9%, just enough to eke out a
sixth month of gains, while stocks in Shanghai .SSEC rose
0.4%.
Chinese markets, often a driver for the region, will also be
on a week-long break starting Thursday.
Gains across much of the rest of Asia were more muted in
comparison to Wall Street's 1.5% overnight jump. .N
"With the end of the month and the quarter upon markets, a
lot of portfolio rebalancing is occurring in the institutional
investor space," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior Asia-Pacific
market analyst at OANDA.
Despite markets largely trading in positive territory on
Tuesday, there still lies worries over new coronavirus
restrictions, in parts of Europe for example, throwing the
latest hurdle to a global recovery as the death toll surpassed 1
million.
The World Bank expects the slowest growth in more than 50
years in East Asia, China and the Pacific, potentially pushing
38 million people back into poverty. Manila stocks .PSI fell 0.3% as partial COVID-19 curbs
were extended in the Philippine capital through October. An
economic planning agency official said the economy likely
contracted in the third quarter. Economists are expecting no policy change when the country's
central bank meets on Thursday.
Some investors kept an eye on the impending U.S.
presidential debate, which alongside the rise in U.S. stocks
overnight, and developments on the stimulus front kept the
dollar in check. Taiwan's dollar TWD=TP strengthened the most
with a 0.8% rise.
India's central bank was also supposed to hold its policy
meeting on Thursday but in a notice on Monday, the Reserve Bank
of India said it would be rescheduled without giving a reason or
new date. The term of three external members of the monetary policy
committee ended earlier this month and the government has not
yet made fresh appointments.
The Indian rupee INR=IN dipped around a tenth of a
percent.
Mizuho criticised the delay in a daily note, describing it
as "reckless neglect at a time when the economy cannot afford
policy fumbles."
Indonesian stocks .JKSE reversed early gains to trade
slightly lower and were on track for their first monthly loss
since March.
Bank Indonesia's governor told parliament on Monday to put
off regulatory reforms, including a new central bank mandate,
until next year, calling for the focus to remain on dealing with
the pandemic. Investors in Indonesia's bond market have been unnerved by
the possible change in the central bank law, that could result
in some loss of central bank independence.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields up 3.5 basis points
to 6.95%
** Philippine 10-year benchmark yield unchanged at 3.1%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0651 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= -0.15 +2.80 .N225 0.12 -0.50
China CNY=CFXS -0.18 +2.05 .SSEC 0.36 5.87
India INR=IN -0.05 -3.29 .NSEI 0.11 -7.63
Indonesia IDR= +0.00 -6.53 .JKSE -0.22 -22.28
Malaysia MYR= +0.34 -1.68 .KLSE -0.08 -4.93
Philippines PHP= -0.06 +4.50 .PSI -0.34 -25.25
S.Korea KRW=KFTC +0.35 -1.12 .KS11 0.86 5.93
Singapore SGD= +0.13 -1.89 .STI 0.41 -22.64
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.75 +3.81 .TWII 0.04 3.92
Thailand THB=TH -0.03 -5.59 .SETI 0.08 -19.99