(Repeats for Singapore and Southeast Asia)
* Markets in Thailand closed due to a holiday
* Developing Asia's 2020 contraction seen less severe than
expected - ADB
* Peso firms after trade data
By Anushka Trivedi
Dec 10 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in emerging Asia
gained ground on Thursday, as analysts pointed to investors
reshuffling their portfolio amid expectations of a
better-than-forecast economic recovery in the region supported
by China's steady rebound.
Despite a weakness in the broader markets and a weak finish
at Wall Street overnight on concerns of delayed fiscal stimulus,
Asian equity indexes in China, Indonesia and the
Philippines advanced between 0.2% to 0.6%.
"With a lack of headlines or data to drive markets in Asia,
investors appear to be using the lull to reduce risk in some
markets and rejig weightings in others," said Jeffrey Halley,
senior market analysts, Asia Pacific at OANDA.
Stirring a bit of positivity in the markets was Asian
Development Bank's (ADB) revision of its growth projection for
developing economies in the region for 2020. It now expects them
to contract less than previously thought and rebound swiftly
next year, supported by China's pace of recovery.
"The November data out of China had continued to reinforce
the recovery picture and the improved global demand, providing
support for Asia markets," said Jingyi Pan, a Singapore-based
market strategist with financial services firm IG.
With dwindling coronavirus cases, China's economy has
stabilized from the crisis as most crucial economic indicators
like trade and manufacturing index signal a rapid recovery in
the world's second biggest economy.
The U.S. dollar was a shade weaker in the Asian trading
session, supporting local currencies.
However, the South Korean won eased 0.1% as the
country reported 682 new cases of coronavirus infections which
is threatening to overwhelm its economy and healthcare system.
Authorities in the country on Thursday were scrambling to
build hospital beds in shipping containers to ease strains on
medical facilities stretched by the latest wave of infections.
The Philippine peso firmed 0.3% after its October
trade deficit came in at $1.78 billion, sharply narrower than
last year's $3.25 billion figure.
ING analysts said in a note that this, together with low
corporate demand for dollars should support the currency in the
near-term.
Financial markets in Thailand were closed due to a holiday.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 0.1 basis
points at 6.214%
** Top gainers on the Jakarta stock index include
Intermedia Capital Tbk PT up 30.9% and Sidomulyo
Selaras Tbk PT up 22.2%
** Top gainers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index
include Top Glove Corp Bhd up 2.8% and Telekom
Malaysia Bhd up 2.5%
Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0349 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD %
Japan -0.21 +4.00 -0.33 12.99
China +0.03 +6.42 0.24 10.82
India +0.00 -2.96 0.00 11.18
Indonesia -0.14 -1.56 0.77 -4.91
Malaysia +0.07 +0.71 0.31 3.95
Philippine +0.27 +5.41 0.68 -8.50
s
S.Korea -0.06 +6.53 0.03 25.41
Singapore -0.01 +0.55 -0.39 -12.13
Taiwan +1.02 +6.68 -0.72 19.08
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru)
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