Reuters poll - Asia FX sentiment worsens on Fed rate rise bets

By Masayuki Kitano

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Sentiment towards most emerging Asian currencies worsened in the last two weeks after strong U.S. jobs data bolstered expectations that U.S. interest rates will move higher before year-end, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Bearish bets against the Indonesian rupiah, the Malaysian ringgit, the South Korean won and the Taiwan dollar all rose to their largest levels in nearly three months.

The survey of 17 currency analysts and fund managers conducted between Tuesday and Thursday also showed that short positions in the Philippine peso climbed to their largest level in almost seven months.

Bearish bets against the Singapore dollar rose to a two-month high.

Data last Friday showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased 280,000 last month, the biggest gain since December.

That bolstered expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates before year-end, triggering a rise in U.S. bond yields and weighing on emerging Asian currencies.

The Indonesian rupiah hit a 17-year low of 13,384 versus the dollar on Tuesday, while the Malaysian ringgit set a 9-year low of 3.7680.

The Philippine peso had slipped to a low of 45.15 on Monday and again on Thursday, matching a trough touched last November.

Bullish bets on the Chinese yuan decreased slightly compared to the previous poll two weeks ago.

The only two currencies that saw an improvement in sentiment were the Indian rupee and the Thai baht, with market participants trimming short positions in both currencies compared to two weeks ago.

The currency poll is focused on what analysts believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht.

The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long U.S. dollars.

(Additional reporting by Shaloo Shrivastava in BENGALURU; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)