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The Indonesian rupiah emerged as

the top gainer among Southeast Asian currencies on Thursday

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after a cooler-than-anticipated U.S inflation print fanned

expectations that the Federal Reserve was near the end of its

rate hike cycle.

The rupiah advanced for the fourth straight session,

gaining 0.5% and hitting its highest level since Aug. 26. The

South Korean won appreciated 1%, while the Malaysian

ringgit was up 0.2%.

Consumer prices in the world’s largest economy barely rose

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in March as the cost of gasoline declined, although stubbornly

high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering.

“Regardless, with housing prices starting to turn lower, in

line with recent rental trends, the March report indicates

progress in disinflation for the U.S.,” Maybank analysts wrote

in a note.

Bucking the trend, the Philippine peso edged lower

after the central bank said it could pause its interest rate-

hiking cycle at its meeting next month as inflation eased. The

country has raised rates by 425 basis points since last year to

6.25%.

“This may also be weighing on the currency as the projected

interest rate differential could narrow should the Fed hike in

May while the BSP opts to pause,” said Nicholas Mapa, senior

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economist at ING, referring to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

(BSP).

The Reserve Bank of India is expected to follow suit and is

likely to extend a rate pause through year-end, according to a

Reuters poll.

The Indian rupee rose 0.1%, climbing for the second

consecutive session. The country’s retail inflation rose at the

slowest annual pace in nearly 15 months in March, with the 5.66%

gain lower than the central bank’s upper tolerance level for the

first time this year.

Inflation is likely to slip below 5% in April, making the

bar for another rate hike high, Barclays analysts said.

Stocks across the region followed Wall Street lower, with

the benchmark in Manila leading the losses to dip to its

lowest since March 20. Equities in Taiwan and Jakarta

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lost more than 0.3% each.

Highlights

** Sovereign debtors, creditors agree on steps to jumpstart

debt restructurings

** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 0.4 basis

points at 6.643%​​

** Japan, France and India to launch platform to coordinate

Sri Lanka debt

Asia stock indexes and currencies

at 0336 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS

DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD %

%

Japan -0.10 -1.61 <.n2>

China EC>

India +0.14 +0.92 <.ns ei>

Indonesi +0.47 +5.13 <.jk a se>

Malaysia +0.23 +0.00 <.kl se>

Philippi -0.05 +0.76 <.ps nes i>

S.Korea 11>

Singapor +0.14 +1.02 <.st e i>

Taiwan +0.02 +0.69 <.tw ii>

Thailand – +1.04 <.se ti>

(Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie

Freed)