(Corrects first bullet point in Highlights section to read
yields are down so far this week, not up)
* Thai baht adds about 2.5% since U.S. election
* Vaccine distribution timeline a risk to baht - analyst
* Malaysia, Singapore stocks drop
By Anushka Trivedi
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Thailand's baht hit a 10-month peak on
Wednesday as foreign investors flocked to the country's
high-yielding debt and equity markets after progress in a
COVID-19 vaccine trial lifted prospects for the trade- and
tourism-dominated economy.
The baht THB=TH firmed as much as 0.8% to 30.210 against
the dollar, bringing its gains to about 2.5% since the U.S.
election last week resulted in Joe Biden winning the presidency.
Local stocks .SETI were up 0.5%.
Drugmakers Pfizer Inc PFE.N and BioNTech SE BNTX.O
flagged a 90% efficacy rate for their vaccine over the weekend,
compounding gains in Asia that had been buoyed by Biden's win as
he is expected to be less hawkish on trade compared to Donald
Trump.
Democrat Biden's new administration and the high chances
that Republicans will keep control of the Senate will result in
a slimmer round of new stimulus and may cap U.S. long-term
yields, adding to the appeal of Asian bonds offering high real
yields.
"The gains in baht are driven by foreign inflows...they have
been net buyers of equity and fixed income last week," Poon
Panichpibool, a market strategist at Krung Thai Bank said.
Progress on a vaccine bodes well for the ailing economy as
it counts exports and tourism as its main sources of revenue
generation, but the pandemic still remains a key factor in
determining the baht's movement in the near-term.
"If the COVID-19 outbreak is still not under control and
there's no further positive development in distribution of the
vaccine, the market sentiment could shift from risk-on to
risk-off, adding to the U.S. dollar's strength," Poon said.
Other currencies were rangebound against a tepid greenback,
with the Taiwanese dollar TWD=TP again firming more than 1% to
outperform its peers.
Meanwhile, stock markets in Singapore .STI and Malaysia
.KLSE declined 0.5% and 1%, respectively, after a euphoric
rally in the previous session was sparked by the vaccine news.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Thailand's 10-year government bond yield TH10YT=RR down
about 3.8% this week
** Top losers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index .KLSE
include IHH Healthcare Bhd IHHH.KL down 3.36% and Hap Seng
Consolidated Bhd HAPS.KL down 2.93%
** Top drags on the Singapore STI .STI include: Ascendas
Real Estate Investment Trust AEMN.SI down 6.3% and Mapletree
Industrial Trust MAPI.SI down 4.3%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at
0434 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS YTD %
DAILY %
Japan JPY= +0.15 +3.32 .N225 1.75 7.12
China CNY=CFXS +0.29 +5.55 .SSEC 0.09 10.26
India INR=IN -0.11 -3.88 .NSEI 1.01 4.85
Indonesia IDR= -0.14 -1.28 .JKSE 0.85 -12.55
Malaysia MYR= -0.05 -0.75 .KLSE -1.05 -1.90
Philippines PHP= +0.06 +4.95 .PSI 0.05 -9.93
S.Korea KRW=KFTC +0.30 +4.01 .KS11 1.14 12.89
Singapore SGD= +0.11 -0.16 .STI -0.54 -16.52
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.20 +5.58 .TWII 0.98 10.11
Thailand THB=TH +0.66 -1.12 .SETI 0.48 -14.69