Indonesia's 10-year benchmark bond yields ID10YT=RR at 7.270%
Fitch says Vietnam banks likely to face significant pressure from government growth target
Interim head Destry frontrunner to be Bank Indonesia Governor, source says
Taiwan's July inflation rose 2.5% year-on-year, in line with analyst expectations
Asian currencies give back earlier gains
In foreign exchange, the MSCI gauge of emerging currencies .MIEM00000CUS eased after rising as much as 0.2% to a record high.
The South Korean won KRW=KFTC weakened 0.3% after appreciating to its strongest since early October last year, at 1,414.5 per U.S. dollar, while Taiwan's dollar TWD=TP strengthened to a mid-July high of 32.23.
The Thai baht THB=TH and Indonesia's rupiah IDR= gained earlier in the session but reversed course by Asia afternoon trade.
Crude prices remained anchored near mid-July lows on progress in Iran-Oman talks, lifting hopes for a resolution in the Middle East that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and supporting the currencies of energy-reliant countries. O/R
"The runtime of this appreciation hinges mostly on whether the de-escalation holds. We've lost count of how often this pattern plays out," said Zavier Wong, a market analyst at eToro.
"If we see that (conflict escalation) happening again, oil goes right back to being a headwind, and these currencies could give up the ground just as fast as they gained it."
South Korea and Taiwan stocks fall on chip selloff
Elsewhere in emerging Asia, South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 closed down 4.6%, weighed by losses in chip majors Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS, both shedding 6.3% and 10.4% at close, respectively. .KS
Taiwan's benchmark index .TWII also lost as much as 1.3% at close, with semiconductor leader TSMC 2330.TW falling 1.7%.
Both the tech-heavy bourses were hammered by resurgent concerns over massive artificial intelligence spending.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix and Samsung are facing growing investor calls for a greater share of excess cash via dividends or buybacks, as the world's two largest chipmakers are set to hold a combined $263 billion in net cash by year-end.
MSCI's EM Asia equity index .MIMS00000PUS, in which South Korea and Taiwan account for more than a third of the weightage, slipped 1.9%.
Singapore stocks rise after DBS record profit and outlook hike
Singapore stocks outperformed most emerging Asian equities on Thursday, snapping a five-session losing run after top lender DBS hit an all-time high on record quarterly profit, while most regional currencies surrendered earlier gains to tread lower.
The MSCI's broader ASEAN index .MISU00000PUS, dominated by the major banks in Singapore, advanced 0.6% to hit a five-month high. DBS Group DBSM.SI, Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets, surged 3.1% to a lifetime high after hiking its annual outlook and logging a record quarterly profit.
Smaller rivals Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI and United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI followed suit, both gaining 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively.
That lifted Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index .STI by 1.2% in its steepest single-day rise in a week. The benchmark is now around 70 points away from its record high of 5,713.19.
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