Asian currencies fall after rupiah, won dive<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asian currencies were dragged to new
\nrecord lows yesterday, hurt by the rising prospect of corporate
\nbad debts and sharp falls in the Indonesian rupiah and South
\nKorean won, dealers and currency experts said.<\/p>\n
The rupiah led the flight into U.S. dollars on rumors about
\nPresident Soeharto's health, later denied. It sank almost 11
\npercent on the day, plunging to a historic low of 4,600 against
\nthe dollar.<\/p>\n
Dollar\/rupiah slipped 450 points from its opening at 4,150 to
\n4,550\/65 in late action.<\/p>\n
State Secretary Moerdiono and Soeharto's son denied the market
\nrumors and said the 76-year-old president was in good health.<\/p>\n
The rupiah's plunge was its largest ever one day fall,
\noutstripping the 155-point spiral in August when the central bank
\nscrapped its intervention band.<\/p>\n
\"It's not so much a contagion effect now. The fact currencies
\nare all under pressure is because they're facing similar
\nproblems, which is corporate debt hedging,\" said Andrew Fung,
\nregional treasury economist with Standard Chartered.<\/p>\n
He said the rupiah was under attack because of the extent of
\ncorporate debt in Indonesia, which happens to coincide with
\nmounting loan problems in South Korea.<\/p>\n
The Korean won plummeted to its daily lower limit for the
\nsecond consecutive session, adding to overall defensive actions
\nin foreign exchange markets.<\/p>\n
The won nosedived to a record low of 1,465.7 against the
\ndollar after the Finance Ministry released documents to the
\nInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) revealing that foreign reserves
\nwere a paltry $6 billion on Dec 2.<\/p>\n
Dealers said strong bids for dollars against the won were in
\nthe market from the opening bell and a weak Japanese yen
\ncompounded the won's problems.<\/p>\n
Thailand's baht slipped in tandem, encouraged by corporate
\ndemand for dollars to meet year-end requirements.<\/p>\n
Onshore, the baht was quoted at 42.300\/500 per dollar at 1000
\nGMT against 41.70\/90 late on Monday.<\/p>\n
Offshore, the rate slipped to 42.300\/600 per dollar against
\n41.20\/30 previously.<\/p>\n
\"The market is thin and choppy with the downside bias caused
\nby external worries and rumors,\" said Alison Seng, an analyst
\nwith Standard & Poors\/MMS.<\/p>\n
She said the market was expecting lower levels in rupiah and
\nwon, which would set near-term direction for the baht.<\/p>\n
The usually more resilient Singapore dollar also lost its
\nfooting, hit by a shock fall in the cost of permits to buy big
\ncars and the rupiah's slide.<\/p>\n
\"The Sing dollar reacted to the rupiah's weakness because
\nSingapore gave a loan of US$5 billion (to Indonesia), a large
\namount for a small country,\" said a senior dealer with a Japanese
\nbank.<\/p>\n
He said the confidence crisis in Indonesia would create more
\njitters about that loan.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar flirted with new lows at 1.6275 against
\nthe U.S. dollar before paring losses to stand at 1.6255\/75.<\/p>\n
Dollar\/sing was quoted at 1.6175\/90 late on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian ringgit's recovery was stopped in its tracks by
\nthe shakeout of the rupiah and won to stand at 3.6550\/650 from an
\nearlier level of 3.5800 and Monday's close of 3.6500\/00.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the ringgit remained supported by new austerity
\nmeasures announced on Friday to turn the economy around.<\/p>\n
Falls in the ringgit were seen temporarily capped at 3.70.<\/p>\n
Taiwan's dollar was moderately lower against the dollar,
\ntracking falls in the Korean won. It was quoted at T$31.961\/995
\nagainst the U.S. dollar late yesterday compared with Monday's
\n31.900 close.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong dollar weakened on overseas selling but managed
\nto close above the session's low.<\/p>\n
It was quoted at 7.7400\/10 against a prior 7.7373\/7.7383.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-currencies-fall-after-rupiah-won-dive-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }