Asian currencies gain against a weak U.S dollar on SVB collapse

THE Thai baht led Asian emerging currencies higher on Monday as the U.S. dollar slid on the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse and on hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve may hike interest rates less aggressively going forward.

The Thai baht appreciated as much as 1.6% to 34.43 per dollar and was set to post its sharpest gain since March 1, while the Philippine peso and Singapore dollar gained 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.