Stocks rise, currencies and bond yields steady

While most equity markets in the region rose for the second straight month in February, Asian currencies and bond yields largely held steady. Most Asian equity markets have recorded decent gains over the past month. Only the bourses in Thailand, Philippines and Pakistan recorded losses, but the declines were less than 1%. Sri Lanka is the only county where the stock market is down year-to-date. The MSCI Asia index outperformed the MSCI Emerging Europe index in February, and largely kept up with the MSCI Latin America index. Foreigners were net buyers of Asian equities for the third consecutive month in February, with Taiwan accounting for the bulk of net inflows. In year-to-date terms, Indonesia and the Philippines are the only two countries that have experienced net outflows.