Asian emerging markets trickled back to life on Wednesday after the Lunar New Year holiday, with the baht dipping ahead of a central bank policy rate decision, while Singapore shares hit a near nine-month high ahead of inflation data.
The baht fell 0.3% despite expectations the Bank of Thailand (BoT) will hike rates by another 25 basis points (bps) later in the day to curb elevated inflation. The baht has appreciated by 5.3% against the United States dollar so far this year, becoming Asia's best performing currency, driven by a weaker dollar and China's earlier-than-expected reopening.
