Asian monies down, won at 3-month low<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Singapore<\/p>\n
The South Korean won led Asian currencies broadly lower as the
\ncommunist North's nuclear standoff with the U.S. intensified
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The main catalyst was a report by Japan's Kyodo news agency
\nwhich said, without citing sources, that North Korea was
\npreparing for a test launch of a medium-range Rodong missile.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at 1,210.5 won, up 11.3 won from Wednesday,
\nand its strongest finish in three months.<\/p>\n
Oil companies and offshore players scrambled to buy dollars
\nearly in the session, pushing the currency to a three-week
\nintraday high of 1,213.0 won.<\/p>\n
The dollar pulled back slightly on selling by exporters and
\nprofit taking above the 1,208-1,210 level, but was buoyed again
\nlate in the session on importer buying and short-covering
\nactivities by local players.<\/p>\n
Bank of America, which has warned about the risks related to
\nthe North Korea tensions since late last year, said in a research
\nreport that \"the market has only recently begun to realize the
\nserious risks\" after the U.S. deployed heavy bombers to the
\nwestern Pacific \"apparently to deter any North Korean aggression
\nin the event of a war with Iraq.\"<\/p>\n
Officials said the U.S. is basing more heavy bombers near
\nNorth Korea and will formally protest the communist nation's
\n\"reckless actions\" in using fighter jets to intercept a U.S.
\nsurveillance plane over the weekend.<\/p>\n
With the dollar breaking past the key 1,210 won resistance,
\ntechnical indicators suggest it is on course to target the
\n1,218.45 level, which is a 50 percent retracement of its October-
\nJanuary drop.<\/p>\n
The dollar has now formed a clear uptrend line against the won
\nfrom its January low of around 1,188 won, and this is evident in
\nthe rising yen-won cross rate, which has risen above long-term
\nresistance near 10.20. The cross rate hasn't closed above this
\nlevel on a weekly basis since last March.<\/p>\n
Bank of Korea's decision to keep the overnight call rate
\nunchanged at 4.25 percent didn't have any impact on the currency
\nmarket, as the move was widely expected and \"not a concern for
\nthe currency market,\" a Seoul-based dealer said.<\/p>\n
The won's weakness spilled over into other regional
\ncurrencies, in varying degrees.<\/p>\n
A trader in Singapore said the dollar\/yen, which generally
\nprovides broad direction to the market, did \"nothing much to
\ninfluence regional currencies today.\"<\/p>\n
Meantime, security concerns triggered by the Tuesday bombings
\nin southern Philippines dragged the peso to an all-time closing
\nlow of 54.850 peso to the dollar on the Philippine Dealing
\nSystem, from 54.750 peso Thursday.<\/p>\n
The New Taiwan dollar slipped as the won's fall triggered
\nshort covering in the U.S. currency, traders said. The U.S. unit
\nclosed at NT$34.668, up from NT$34.615 Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"When I went home yesterday, most people (interbank traders)
\nhad short positions, and everybody was short covering today\"
\nbecause the won was hurt by heightened tensions on the Korean
\npeninsula, said a dealer at a European bank in Taipei.<\/p>\n
Local players monitor the won because Taiwan and South Korea
\ncompete in many export categories.<\/p>\n
Against the Indonesian rupiah, the dollar closed at Rp 8,872,
\nfrom Rp 8,870 Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the U.S. unit was quoted at S$1.7343 against the
\nSingapore dollar late in the local session, up from S$1.7328 late
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Against the Thai baht, the dollar was quoted around 42.58 late
\nin Asia, from 42.525 baht at the previous session close.<\/p>",
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