EMERGING MARKETS-Asian stocks climb on Fed rate-cut bets; Thai cenbank cuts rates

By Roshan Thomas

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Asia climbed on Wednesday after U.S. inflation data fuelled bets for a September interest rate cut and boosted risk appetite, while Thailand's baht and equities barely moved after the central bank delivered a rate cut as was expected.

The Thai central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points, its fourth reduction in 10 months, to support a sluggish economy hit by negative inflation and U.S. tariff pressures.

"Bank of Thailand's (BoT) rate cuts have led to a widening policy rate differential with the U.S., which could contain the pace of appreciation in the Thai baht," said Lloyd Chan, FX strategist at MUFG.

"Given the lacklustre credit growth in Thailand, along with trade headwinds from U.S. tariffs, we look for the BoT to lower the policy rate again by 25 bps in Q4."

The baht THB=TH and stocks .SETI barely moved after the decision. Thailand's markets were closed for two days for public holidays.

Among other Asian stock markets, Jakarta .JKSE rose as much as 1.4% to hit the highest level since mid-September 2024, while Kuala Lumpur .KLSE advanced 1.5%.

Equities in Singapore .STI climbed 1%, while those in Taipei .TWII rose 0.9%. The broader MSCI gauge of Asian emerging market equities .MIMS00000PUS rose 0.3%.

Data released on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer prices rose modestly in July, in line with expectations.

U.S. equity benchmarks closed at record highs overnight as the data indicated that President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs have so far not affected the price of goods much. .N

"It's clear that almost any good news leads investors to pile money into markets, particularly tech stocks, despite their lofty price tags," Paco Chow, dealing manager at trading platform Moomoo, said in a note.

"Investors are riding on 95% odds of a Fed rate cut in five weeks and feeling comfort that inflation is only creeping higher, not running amok," he said.

Investor confidence in the dollar was further dented after the White House said President Donald Trump was weighing legal action against Fed Chair Jerome Powell over his handling of renovations at the central bank's headquarters.

Most Asian currencies advanced, with the Indonesian rupiah IDR= and the Malaysian ringgit MYR= up 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, while the South Korean won KRW=KFTC rose 0.4%.

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