Asian monies unfazed by BOJ move<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (Dow Jones): The Bank of Japan's intervention to
\nweaken the yen barely caused a stir in Asia's regional foreign
\nexchange markets Monday, as most other Asian currencies tracked
\nsideways or trended only moderately lower.<\/p>\n
The sole exception was the Philippine peso, which sank back as
\nmarket players trimmed their long positions in the currency in
\nresponse to the peso's shrinking yield spread over the U.S.
\ndollar.<\/p>\n
The yield on the Philippines' benchmark treasury bill dropped
\nMonday to its lowest level in over 12 years, falling to 8.474
\npercent, down steeply from 13.459 percent at the beginning of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The BOJ's intervention will also weigh on the peso in the
\nshort term, as will the fear that the Central Bank of the
\nPhilippines could enter the market itself should the local
\ncurrency appreciate rapidly, said David Simmonds, Asian currency
\nstrategist at Citibank in Singapore.<\/p>\n
By the end of local trading Monday, short covering had pushed
\nthe U.S. dollar up to finish the day at 38.145 peso, up from
\n38.073 peso at Friday's close.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the region, the Indonesian rupiah ended Asian
\ntrading hours higher against the U.S. currency, although traders
\nwere reluctant to read too much significance into the move.<\/p>\n
"I'm not that bullish on the rupiah," said one Singapore-based
\ntrader at a U.S. bank.<\/p>\n
With so much uncertainty still surrounding future political
\ndevelopments, hot money, which has recently flowed into Jakarta,
\ncould just as rapidly flow out again, he warned.<\/p>\n
Although the proposed rescheduling of US$2.6 billion of
\nIndonesia's sovereign debt is broadly positive for the rupiah,
\nprofit-taking and a sell-off in the local stock market limited
\nthe local currency's gains Monday.<\/p>\n
Toward the end of Asian trading hours, the U.S. currency was
\nquoted at Rp 6,275, down from Rp 6,795 late Friday.<\/p>\n
With markets still nervous about the delay in counting last
\nmonth's election votes, profit-taking is likely to support the
\nU.S. dollar at around Rp 6,600 in the short to medium term,
\npotentially driving the U.S. currency as high as Rp 7,100 before
\nfresh dollar sales emerge.<\/p>\n
Both the Thai baht and the Singapore dollar remained range-
\nbound Monday, as dealers bemoaned the lack of market volatility.<\/p>\n
Baht traders said that strong U.S. dollar bidding interest was
\nsupporting the U.S. currency at 36.80 baht, while offers from
\nThai banks capped the market at 36.95 baht.<\/p>\n
Late in Asian hours Monday, the U.S. dollar was at 36.8850
\nbaht, up a fraction from 36.8700 baht late Friday.<\/p>\n
Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. currency was barely
\nchanged late Monday, ending Asian trading hours at S$1.6990,
\ncompared with S$1.6995 late Friday.<\/p>\n
In North Asia, the South Korean won ended higher despite what
\none trader said was "continued and aggressive intervention" by
\nthe authorities to suppress the local currency.<\/p>\n
At the close of trading in Seoul, the U.S. dollar was quoted
\nat 1,162.90 won, down from 1,164.50 won at the end of Friday's
\nsession.<\/p>\n
With attention focused on South Korea's stock market, which
\nrose by more than 3 percent Monday, foreign investors are likely
\nto keep on buying won in order to fund investments in the
\ncountry's equities, regardless of government intervention,
\ntraders said.<\/p>\n
Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. currency ended at
\nNT$32.296, up from NT$32.282 at the end of Saturday's abbreviated
\ntrading session, but little different from NT$32.291 at Friday's
\nclose.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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