Bullish bets firm on most Asian currencies
Bearish bets on indian rupee, chinese yuan ease
Thai baht turns bearish again

Dec 14 Reuters Bullish bets firmed on most emerging Asian currencies as expectations of an end to U.S. interest rate hikes triggered an easing in the greenback, boosting investors39; appetite for riskier assets, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Long positions on the Taiwanese dollar , the South Korean won and the Singapore dollar strengthened, according to a fortnightly poll of 10 analysts.

Sentiment towards riskier Asian currencies has improved in recent times as market participants bet on U.S. dollar weakness after the U.S. Federal Reserve39;s latest economic projections indicated an end to the interestrate hike cycle.

The dollar sank to a fresh fourmonth low after the Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said the historic tightening of monetary policy was likely over with inflation falling faster than expected and a discussion of cuts in borrowing costs coming into view.

The FOMC39;s pivot to internally discussing rate cuts at its last meeting for 2023 from rate hikes before has pushed USDAsia down sharply. It looks like Asian currencies will end the year 2023 on an optimistic note again like they did in 2022, analysts at HSBC wrote.

Bullish bets on the Philippine peso also firmed.

Most of the responses were received before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 6.50 for a second…