Wednesday 07 Oct 2026
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BENGALURU (Oct 6): Stocks in Indonesia jumped more than 1% to outperform a subdued emerging Asia on Tuesday as investors took advantage of low prices following sharp losses last week, while regional currencies remained muted against a firm greenback.

The Indonesian benchmark has been the worst performer in the region so far this year, down nearly 30% after an MSCI review in January highlighted the market's opaque ownership, weak free-float visibility and unreliable trading data.

Last week, a new exchange rule removing the minimum share price to improve liquidity and price discovery, ahead of another MSCI review in November, took effect. The index lost more than 3% that week.

The Jakarta Composite Index rose as much as 1.4% to hit 6,203.704 on Tuesday, its highest level since Sept 28. It advanced 1.4% on Monday.

"Indonesia's rebound looks partly like bargain hunting after last week's sharp losses, helped by lower oil prices and reduced expectations of an October Fed hike. Tuesday's gains across banking, infrastructure and property suggest participation beyond commodity stocks," said Glenn Yin, director of research at ACCM.

Philippine stocks declined as much as 1% a day after scoring their highest close in a week.

The country's annual inflation accelerated to 7.2% in September, data showed, higher than expectations of 6.6%, per a Reuters poll.

"Given persistent food, utilities, and transport price pressures, alongside added import-cost pressure from peso depreciation, we continue to expect the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to deliver 25-basis-point hikes in October and December, taking the policy rate to 5.5%," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

South Korean shares, resuming after a holiday, lost 0.9% on the back of declines in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. 

Taiwan's benchmark index booked a record closing high of 49,822.55, climbing 0.5%.

MSCI's broad index of emerging Asia equities was little changed, while the EM currencies gauge was flat in Asian trade. 

The US dollar firmed against the euro, which languished near 17-month lows.

The Taiwan dollar strengthened as much as 0.3% to a near two-week peak, while the Philippine peso depreciated as much as 0.4%.

The Indian rupee weakened to its lowest point since July, ahead of the central bank's interest rate decision on Wednesday.

Uploaded by Chng Shear Lane

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