* Singapore cbank move triggers regional fx rally
* Yen dumped as risk appetite boosted by Intel forecasts
* Stocks rally on Intel beating Wall Street views
By Umesh Desai
HONG KONG, April 14 (Reuters) - The technology sector
propelled Asian stocks on Wednesday after bellwether Intel
Corp's <INTC.O> street-beating earnings while Singapore's
aggressive monetary tightening lifted regional currencies on
speculation it heralded a yuan revaluation.
The tech-heavy markets in South Korea and Taiwan got a
leg-up after the world's top chipmaker Intel unveiled sales and
margin forecasts that trounced Wall Street expectations.
Taiwan's TAIEX index <> was up 0.5 percent and the South
Korean KOSPI <> rose 0.9 percent, off initial highs.
In Tokyo, gains in the technology sector helped overcome
the drag provided by telecoms firm KDDI Corp's <9433.T> 1.5
percent drop. The Nikkei benchmark <> was up 0.2 percent,
just above the 14-day moving average.
"The results and guidance reinforce the markets' belief
that the global economy is recovering at a very fast pace and
that is supportive of risk appetite trades across asset
classes," said Dariusz Kowalczyk chief investment strategist at
SJS Markets.
By mid-day the MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.9 percent with the technology index
<.MIAPJIT00PUS> the biggest gainer rising 1.1 percent.
A host of Asian currencies made early gains after
Singapore's central bank recentered its dollar policy band
upwards and switched to a policy of modest and gradual
appreciation for the currency.
The move, effectively a revaluation of the Singapore
dollar, boosted the currency <SGD=D4> to a 20 month high of
1.3776 and triggered a rally in other Asian currencies amid
widely held expectations that China will revalue the yuan.
All Asian currencies, besides the yen and the yuan, rose
posting gains of between 0.1 percent and 1 percent after the
move which came on the heels of data that showed the
city-state's economy expanded at a record pace and faster than
expected.
"It's not just a Singapore story. It's Asia doing extremely
well against the rest of the world. Singapore's data today
confirms it," said Endre Pedersen, executive director of fixed
income at MFC Global, who helps manage about $15 billion in
Asian fixed income.
That shift in central focus to inflation from growth in
Singapore renewed expectations Beijing will allow its yuan to
rise to contain inflationary pressures in an accelerating
economy.
Given the close links markets in Singapore have in relation
to China, the Chinese central bank could take a cue from the
MAS and move the currency to address rising prices as well,
HSBC currency strategist Perry Kojodjojo said.
"We think the initial stage of inflation is positive for
Asian fx as it could mean central banks here will allow appr
eciation to combat rising prices," Kojodjojo said.
This gave a leg-up especially to Asian currencies
considered proxy trades for the yuan including the Malaysian
ringgit <MYR=> and the South Korean won <KRW=>.
The growth-linked Australian dollar <AUD=>, rose 0.3
percent following the Singapore central bank's move which came
after data showed the economy expanded a stronger-than-expected
13.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010 from a year earlier.
The low-yielding yen, however, suffered losses as demand
for riskier assets picked up on hopes of better earnings from
the tech sector. The currency fell most against the Aussie
dollar <AUDJPY=R> which rose 0.4 percent against the yen.
The euro, which is still enjoying a rebound stemming from
short-covering after a rescue package for Greece at the
weekend, rose 0.3 percent to $1.3654 <EUR=>.
(Reporting by Umesh Desai; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and
Vikram S Subhedar)
