* Malaysian ringgit flat a day before central bank meeting
* Singapore stocks shed 1.5%
* S. Korean won, stocks rattled by virus surge
By Anushka Trivedi
July 7 (Reuters) - Asian currencies and shares slid on Wednesday as
investors sold risky assets ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's
June-meeting minutes, while the South Korean won hit a three-month low on
worries about stricter COVID-19 curbs in the country.
The won shed as much as 1%, while peers Thai baht,
Indonesian rupiah and the Indian rupee eased 0.1% to 0.3%.
The focus is on Fed's minutes for clues on tapering of its bond-buying
programme and rate hikes flagged by the central bank in June -- moves that could
diminish the appeal of emerging markets assets and have kept Asian currencies in
check since.
Most Asian equities slumped as investors were skittish after a mixed Wall
Street session overnight. Singapore dropped 1.6% to lead losses, while
Malaysia and Philippine stocks were around 0.6% lower.
Market sentiment was also hit by weaker-than-expected U.S. services data due
to labour shortages, highlighting the risks of a surge in COVID-19 cases in
several regions of the world, said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
Worries rose about the highly contagious Delta variant's spread, which could
potentially prompt another round of lockdowns and curbs even in developed
economies that may derail the global recovery and hurt countries with slow
vaccination rates.
Seoul stocks fell 0.6% after South Korea reported more than 1,200
new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily count since late-December.
Officials extended curbs in Seoul by a week and warned restrictions could be
tightened further across the country to contain the Delta variant-fuelled new
wave of infections.
Malaysian ringgit traded little changed a day before a central bank
meeting where interest rates are expected to be left untouched, as per a Reuters
poll. The country is currently under an extended nationwide lockdown.
"The economy is likely to see an uneven impact from the latest lockdown, and
more targeted measures, rather than a policy rate cut, may be more appropriate,"
Standard Chartered analysts wrote.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Fed June meeting minutes due at 1800 GMT
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields were down 5.4 basis
points at 6.535%
** Top losers on Singapore index include: Oversea-Chinese Bank
and Keppel Corp, both down 2.6%
Asia stock indexes & currencies at 0655 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCK STOCK
S S YTD
DAILY %
%
Japan -0.08 -6.73 -0.96 3.36
China +0.17 +0.94 0.65 2.31
India -0.26 -2.24 0.10 13.25
Indonesia -0.21 -3.14 -0.12 1.01
Malaysia -0.05 -3.27 -0.34 -6.20
Philippines -0.06 -3.52 -0.71 -2.76
S.Korea -0.74 -4.56 -0.60 14.33
Singapore -0.02 -1.96 -1.63 10.36
Taiwan -0.23 +1.80 -0.35 21.17
Thailand -0.28 -7.16 -0.53 9.22
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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