Most Asian currencies weak, rupiah drops<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asian regional currencies got off to a
\nmostly softer start after the long holiday weekend with the
\nmarket still worried about social unrest in Indonesia and a weak
\nyen, dealers said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But India provided some distraction from the ongoing regional
\nproblems after it carried out a series of underground nuclear
\ntests on Monday. Leaders from around the globe condemned the act
\nwith the U.S. and Japan threatening sanctions.<\/p>\n
Japan said it was considering freezing yen loans and grants of
\naid to India.<\/p>\n
But analysts played down fears that potential economic
\nsanctions would seriously hurt the economy given India's external
\nsector was only around 12 percent of GDP. Exporters would however
\nbe vulnerable.<\/p>\n
The rupee opened sharply weaker against the forward dollar in
\nvolatile trade on fears foreign capital inflows would dry up but
\nspot was steady at 39.775\/780 per dollar at 0817 GMT compared
\nwith yesterday's close at 39.740.<\/p>\n
The Taiwan dollar also weakened against the background of good
\ndemand for U.S. dollars on the non-delivery forward market.<\/p>\n
The Thai baht inched down but tight liquidity offshore
\ncontinued to support the spot rate.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar slipped after a J.P. Morgan research
\nreport said the economy faced the threat of a recession this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Dealers also attributed part of the decline to a survey in a
\nlocal newspaper, which said Singapore companies were slashing
\ninvestment budgets this year because of an unexpected slowdown in
\nsales.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian ringgit bucked the regional trend and recovered
\nearly losses to stand stronger by late trade although there were
\nfew fresh factors to influence sentiment and trading was largely
\nconfined to position adjustment.<\/p>\n
The ringgit is expected to trade in a 3.80 to 3.90 ringgit
\nrange in the near-term.<\/p>\n
The Philippine peso surged following a relatively peaceful
\npresidential election in the Philippines. While at least eight
\npeople were killed in polling day clashes, violence was well down
\nfrom past elections. But traders said the market was still
\ncautious at least until after the ballots have been counted.<\/p>\n
The Korean won reversed its slide in late trade but the
\ntopside is seen capped by general concerns about the economy
\nafter rating agency Moody's downgraded the debt ratings of 19
\nKorean banks at the weekend.<\/p>\n
A senior finance ministry official said the won's value was
\nunlikely to change much from the current levels despite \"various
\nsources of instability\" including Indonesia.<\/p>",
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