Yuan sentiment turns neutral, weakest in 1-1/2 years - Reuters poll

By Jongwoo Cheon

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Sentiment on the yuan has turned neutral, its weakest level in 1-1/2 years amid China's efforts to curb excessive bullish bets, while long positions in the rupiah hit a 2-1/2 year high on capital inflows to Indonesia, a Reuters poll showed.

Long positions in the yuan disappeared in the last two weeks, according to the survey of 13 currency analysts published on Thursday.

The Chinese currency had enjoyed long positions since late August 2012 on the country's large current account surplus, foreign exchange reserves and fund inflows.

The yuan, however, has recently lost ground as the central bank continued to fix the currency's midpoint weaker, a move seen as preparation before a fresh round of currency market reform. On Thursday, the renminbi fell below the official fixing for a third consecutive session.

The People's Bank of China is expected to aim to inject more two-way volatility in the run-up to a widening of the yuan's daily trading band, expected as early as in March.

Still, many economists and currency traders see the yuan's uptrend remaining intact given the ability of Chinese assets to attract capital inflows.

The yuan's weakness dragged most emerging Asian currencies lower, as regional units closely track the Chinese currency because of the region's dependence on China's economy. Investors often use some of them, such as the Singapore dollar, as a proxy to bet the yuan.

Sentiment on the city-state's unit as well as the South Korean won became almost neutral.

Short positions in the baht rose as political tensions increased in Thailand.

The Indonesian rupiah, however, saw long positions rise to the highest since August 2011 as foreign investors brought money into the country's stocks and bonds, encouraged by the country's improving economic fundamentals.

Malaysia's ringgit saw the largest long positions since late October 2013 as investors covered short positions on expectations of large demand from exporters. Offshore funds, including real money accounts, also bought the ringgit, traders said. Sentiment on the ringgit had been bearish since November.

The Reuters survey 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. The figures included positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).

(Additional reporting by Sumanta Dey and Shaloo Shrivastava in BANGALORE; Editing by Chris Gallagher)