Asian currencies mostly down; new Taiwan dollar low<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies fell late Monday
\namid nagging political and economic uncertainties, with the New
\nTaiwan dollar falling to a 31-month low after an influential
\nthink tank called for a much weaker currency, dealers said.<\/p>\n
A spike in global oil prices, following increased Israeli-
\nPalestinian violence over the weekend, also cast a shadow on most
\nAsian foreign exchange markets, dealers said.<\/p>\n
Expensive oil prices would hurt oil importers like South
\nKorea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. As net
\noil exporters, Indonesia and Malaysia stand to gain.<\/p>\n
The first step by Morgan Stanley Capital International to
\nadopting a free-float system for calculating its indexes
\ncontained a few surprises, and having largely been priced in the
\nregion's equity markets, the changes had little immediate impact
\non Asian currency markets, dealers said. The final rebalancing
\nand full adoption of the free-float system won't be until May 31,
\n2002.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian rupiah ended lower against the U.S. dollar
\nMonday as the country's political crisis rolled on, traders said.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at the day's low of Rp 11,450, higher than
\nits close Friday at Rp 11,375.<\/p>\n
The U.S. currency hit an intraday high of Rp 11,550 on rumors
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid plans to move to dissolve Parliament
\nto stop lawmakers from impeaching him.<\/p>\n
Standard & Poor's, a credit ratings agency, lowered
\nIndonesia's long-term foreign currency rating to CCC+ from B-,
\nciting the political situation as a main reason for the
\ndowngrade.<\/p>\n
But the market didn't move on the news, as the reasons for the
\ndowngrade are already well known, analysts said.<\/p>\n
Dealers put most of the blame for the New Taiwan dollar's
\nplunge to a local newspaper report over the weekend that a
\nprivate think tank - the Taiwan Research Institute - had
\nsuggested the government let the currency weaken to NT$40.000 to
\nhelp stabilize the economy.<\/p>\n
Speculation that the government may allow a sharp depreciation
\nof the currency snapped the New Taiwan dollar out of its recent
\ninertia, and dragged it to its weakest level since October 1998.<\/p>\n
The U.S. dollar closed at NT$33.456, higher than NT$32.948
\nFriday. Dealings were valued at US$878 million, up from US$293.5
\nmillion Friday.<\/p>\n
Talk of a possible sharp depreciation in the New Taiwan dollar
\nstung some of the other regional currencies, like the Philippine
\npeso and the Thai baht, dealers said.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at 50.840 pesos on the Philippine Dealing
\nSystem, up from 50.330 pesos Friday.<\/p>\n
Speculation that the Philippine central bank was buying
\ndollars to service its debt requirements also pressured the peso,
\ndealers said.<\/p>\n
The Thai currency weakened to 45.630 baht per dollar, compared
\nwith 45.490 baht late Friday.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar relinquished its earlier gains following
\nnews that independent directors of Australia's Cable & Wireless
\nOptus Ltd. had recommended shareholders accept the friendly
\ntakeover bid from Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.<\/p>\n
Fears of intervention by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
\ncushioned the local currency's decline, dealers said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. dollar was at S$1.8113, up from S$1.8075 late Friday.
\nFollowing gains in New York Friday, the U.S. dollar had opened
\naround S$1.8120.<\/p>\n
Resisting the pressure from the region, the South Korean won
\nfound respite from a 3.1 percent surge on the local stock market.<\/p>\n
The dollar finished at 1,301.5 won, lower than Friday's close
\nof 1,304 won.<\/p>",
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