Asian currencies mostly up late on yen, local factors<\/p>\n
Nirmala Menon, Dow Jones, Singapore<\/p>\n
Asian currencies were mostly stronger Tuesday, broadly guided
\nby the yen and supported by a spate of local economic news.<\/p>\n
The South Korean won and the New Taiwan dollar were also
\nlifted by continued foreign buying of local shares.<\/p>\n
The generally stronger tone of regional units helped the
\nPhilippine peso recover from the previous session's 16-month
\nlows. Traders also believed the central bank sold dollars to
\nsupport the peso, though the monetary authority denied this late
\nTuesday, after the market closed.<\/p>\n
The dollar pulled back from an intraday high of 53.750 pesos
\nto close at 53.590 pesos on the Philippine Dealing System,
\nslightly above its day's trough of 53.570 pesos, and up from
\n53.850 pesos Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Traders said the central bank intervened to sell dollars to
\nprevent it from testing the key 54 pesos resistance level. Some
\nbelieve the central bank sold around $40 million at between 53.65
\npesos and 53.75 pesos.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar rose as market players took profit on the
\nU.S. currency following its early weakness versus the yen.<\/p>\n
But a lack of follow through-selling kept the U.S. unit
\nsupported above its intraday low of S$1.7655, dealers said.<\/p>\n
As of 0901 GMT (4.01 p.m. Jakarta time), the dollar was quoted
\naround S$1.7672, down from S$1.7714 late Monday.<\/p>\n
Market players were largely unmoved by better-than-expected
\nindustrial production data for October.<\/p>\n
Given the downside risk on export-oriented Asian economies
\nfrom the U.S. slowdown, \"clearly I'm not going to take a long
\nSingapore dollar position on that (the industrial output data),\"
\nsaid Bhanu Baweja, currency strategist at UBS Warburg.<\/p>\n
Industrial production rose 11.8 percent on year in October, up
\nfrom 10.7 percent in September, beating analysts' forecasts for a
\n7 percent-10 percent growth.<\/p>\n
The South Korean won rose for a fourth straight session,
\ntracking the yen's rise and helped by some equity-related dollar
\nsales, traders said.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at 1,206.1 won, down from 1,211.5 won
\nMonday, after trading between 1,203.8 won and 1,208.5 won.<\/p>\n
Dollar sales linked to foreign buying of local shares was
\nsmaller than expected though, and that prevented the currency
\nfrom falling much beyond 1,204 won, dealers said. Buying by
\nimporters around that level also lent some support to the dollar.<\/p>\n
Equity-related dollar sales amounted to between $100 million
\nand $200 million Tuesday; many had expected the sales to be well
\nabove $200 million.<\/p>\n
Foreigners were net buyers of 95.3 billion won worth of local
\nshares during the day.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the rupiah ended slightly lower Tuesday as the
\nU.S. dollar rebounded late in the local session on short covering
\nin the market and demand from local companies.<\/p>\n
Talk of dollar selling by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
\nAgency had pushed the greenback to an intraday low of Rp 8,965.
\nThe dollar, however, eventually recovered to close at Rp 8,995,
\nedging up from its close Monday of Rp 8,985.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the dollar initially slipped on market
\nspeculation that IBRA has been selling dollars for rupiah since
\nearly this month, before it channels the funds into state
\ncoffers.<\/p>\n
Demand from local companies paying maturing offshore debts
\nalso helped supported the dollar, dealers added.<\/p>\n
Local companies are saddled with around $60 billion in foreign
\ndebt, a factor that constantly dogs the rupiah.<\/p>\n
Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 8,970 and Rp
\n9,000 Wednesday with the central bank, Bank Indonesia, expected
\nto step in to curb any rise above the Rp 9,000 psychologically-
\nkey level.<\/p>",
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