One by One, Asian Currencies Are Faltering as Oil Worries Worsen

Oil’s renewed surge above $120 a barrel is dealing a heavy blow across Asia’s currency markets, pulling some of the region’s most vulnerable currencies back to all-time lows as inflation fears resurface.

Since the war started just two months ago, the Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee and Philippine peso have all slid sharply, putting them among the weakest performers not just regionally but also across emerging markets. That pressure heightened on Thursday when the rupiah and rupee slid more than 0.5% against the dollar to reach lows, while the peso briefly neared that level.