Asian monies mixed, market awaits Bush currency talks<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Singapore<\/p>\n
Asian currencies were mixed in cautious trading Friday as
\nmarket participants waited to see what message U.S. President
\nGeorge W. Bush may deliver on exchange rates during his visit to
\nthe region.<\/p>\n
The South Korean won and New Taiwan dollar strengthened
\nmodestly. The Philippine peso and Thai baht weakened, while the
\nSingapore dollar and Indonesian rupiah were little changed.<\/p>\n
Although security and counterterrorism are expected to
\ndominate discussions on Bush's six-day sweep through the region,
\nthe U.S. president is under pressure from U.S. manufacturers to
\naddress what they see as currency manipulation by Asian
\ngovernments.<\/p>\n
Bush will have a chance to broach the subject with Japanese
\nPrime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo Friday on the first leg
\nof his journey.<\/p>\n
The Japanese government, through the country's central bank,
\nbought a record US$125 billion through the first nine months of
\n2003 in order to curb the yen's strength against the dollar.<\/p>\n
Bush is also expected to raise the issue of currencies when he
\nmeets with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Asian heads of
\nstate at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week
\nin Bangkok.<\/p>\n
The impact on currency markets will depend on whether Bush
\nsimply reiterates the administration's call for flexible exchange
\nrates or steps up its rhetoric, analysts say.<\/p>\n
Foreign flows into the South Korean and Taiwan stock markets
\nbolstered the currencies in both those countries Friday.<\/p>\n
Against the won, the dollar closed at 1,172.6 won, down from
\n1,174.9 won late Thursday in Asia.<\/p>\n
Foreigners bought a net 6.1 billion won of South Korean
\nshares, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Korean Composite
\nStock Index from falling 1.2 percent on the day.<\/p>\n
The government was suspected of continuing its effort to
\nsupport the dollar, buying the U.S. currency via the state-run
\nKorea Development Bank.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Finance and Economy, however, in a statement
\nissued after the market closed Friday denied having actively
\nbought dollars in the foreign exchange market recently. The
\ndollar surged to a six-week high against the won Thursday on a
\ncombination of short-covering and suspected government support.<\/p>\n
Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. unit closed at
\nNT$33.920, down from NT$33.950 Thursday.<\/p>\n
Foreign investors bought a net NT$11.08 billion of shares
\nFriday, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The main index of
\nthe Taiwan Stock Exchange ended up 0.1 percent at a fresh 18-
\nmonth high.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar failed to gain traction from a government
\nreport showing that exports from the city-state in October posted
\ntheir largest increase in three years.<\/p>\n
Late in Asia the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7411, little
\nchanged from S$1.7410 late Thursday.<\/p>\n
The U.S. dollar opened around S$1.7410, and after an early dip
\nto its session low of S$1.7385, bounced back to S$1.7400-
\nS$1.7410, where it traded through most of the afternoon session.<\/p>\n
And in yet another positive sign for the island's economy, the
\ngovernment reported that non-oil domestic exports rose 25.9
\npercent on year to S$10.5 billion in September.<\/p>\n
Security concerns ahead of Bush's visit to Manila this weekend
\nweighed on the peso.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at 54.680 pesos on the Philippine Dealing
\nSystem, up from 54.660 pesos Thursday.<\/p>\n
A threat by Philippine communist guerrillas Friday to attack
\ngovernment forces during the U.S. president's visit Saturday
\nsparked some mild peso selling, a dealer at a local bank said.<\/p>\n
Market participants were also wary of selling the dollar
\nbefore the government announces its nine-month budget deficit
\nMonday. Fiscal concerns have weighed on the peso in recent
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
The dollar gained on the baht after Thailand's finance
\nminister Suchart Jaovisidha said the government might uses taxes
\nto fight speculation on the baht if steps announced earlier in
\nthe week didn't work.<\/p>\n
The central bank Tuesday imposed restrictions on nonresident
\ndeposit accounts with local financial institutions.<\/p>\n
\"We need to gauge the impact of the central bank measures
\nfirst,\" he said. \"This takes about a week from when the measures
\nwere put in effect.\"<\/p>\n
Near the end of Asian trading the dollar was quoted at 39.965
\nbaht, up from 39.850 baht late Thursday.<\/p>\n
Against the rupiah, the dollar was quoted at Rp8,440,
\nunchanged from late Thursday.<\/p>\n
The dollar touched an intraday high of Rp8,455 on demand from
\nimporters but lost steam as the forthcoming initial public
\noffering of a 36 percent stake in Bank Rakyat Indonesia continued
\nto underpin positive sentiment toward the local unit.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-monies-mixed-market-awaits-bush-currency-talks-1447893297",
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