Asian monies lower for fourth day running<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): For the fourth day running Thursday,
\nSoutheast Asian currencies ended local trading hours weaker
\nagainst the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
As the U.S. currency extended its bullish trend against the
\nyen, the South Korean won, the New Taiwan dollar and the freely
\ntraded currencies of Southeast Asia all came under steady
\ndownward pressure.<\/p>\n
As the dollar breached 122.00 yen, to hit a high in Asia of
\n122.78, the U.S. currency also rose powerfully against the won.<\/p>\n
One point in intraday trading saw the U.S. dollar propelled as
\nhigh as 1,243 won, its strongest level against the Korean
\ncurrency since the beginning of December.<\/p>\n
According to dealers, the won's plunge was driven primarily by
\nU.S. dollar-buying originating within the domestic market.<\/p>\n
\"On a short-term day-to-day basis, the won is very tied to the
\nyen,\" said Chia Woon Khien, regional treasury economist at
\nSkandinaviska Enskilda Banken in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"This is mainly a yen story,\" agreed Steven Xu, treasury
\neconomist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. \"Because of
\nthe competitiveness issue, Korean policy-makers have made no
\nsecret of their intention to keep the yen\/won cross rate above
\n10.00 won.\"<\/p>\n
Because of the close trading links between South Korea and
\nJapan, many of the commercial flows in and out of Korea are
\npriced in yen, leaving the economy highly vulnerable to swings in
\nthe Japanese currency's exchange rate, Chia explained.<\/p>\n
At the close of domestic trading Thursday, the U.S. currency
\nwas quoted at 1,239.50 won, up from 1,229.40 Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"If the yen can stabilize at around 125 (to the U.S. dollar),
\nthen the won should stabilize at around 1,200,\" she said, arguing
\nthat the U.S. dollar's current rally against the Korean currency
\nis overextended.<\/p>\n
Similar pressures also forced the New Taiwan dollar lower
\nThursday, with the U.S. currency rising to end local trading at
\nNT$33.250, up from NT$33.050.<\/p>\n
\"The same theme is being played out in Taiwan. The
\nmonetization of domestic debt will result in a weaker currency,\"
\nsaid Xu at Standard Chartered, who forecasts that the U.S. dollar
\nwill climb to NT$34.50 over the medium term.<\/p>\n
Xu compares Taiwan with Singapore, both of which are
\nrelatively small economies, highly dependent on their external
\nsectors.<\/p>\n
Against the Indonesian rupiah, the U.S. currency ended Asian
\ntrading hours at Rp 8,885, little different from Rp 8,870 at the
\nsame time the previous day.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, where local money-market rates remain around 2
\npercent, the U.S. dollar ended trading hours at S$1.7341, down a
\ntouch from S$1.7345 late the day before.<\/p>\n
Traders said that, despite being sold down against the U.S.
\ndollar, the local currency received support from position-
\nunwinding in the regional cross-currency markets.<\/p>\n
Although the position-unwinding propped up the Singapore
\ndollar, it exacerbated the downward slide of other regional
\ncurrencies, including the Thai baht and the Philippine peso.<\/p>\n
Against the baht, the U.S. dollar ended Asian hours at 37.6750
\nbaht, up from 37.6550 Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Against the peso, the U.S. dollar closed at 39.220 pesos,
\ncompared with 39.065 at the end of Wednesday's session.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-monies-lower-for-fourth-day-running-1447893297",
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