News on Abdurrahman boosts rupiah<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Hopes that President Abdurrahman
\nWahid's ouster will bring a quick settlement to Indonesia's
\npolitical crisis vaulted the rupiah to its highest finish against
\nthe dollar in more than four months Monday.<\/p>\n
Spillover effects from the positive sentiment also helped the
\nSingapore dollar and Thai baht strengthen. Elsewhere, the New
\nTaiwan dollar edged higher, while the South Korean won and
\nPhilippine peso weakened.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly ended months of
\nuncertainty late Monday afternoon, voting to remove Wahid and
\nreplace him with Vice President Soekarnoputri Megawati.<\/p>\n
The rupiah rallied, rising as high as Rp 10,088 in intraday
\ntrade as the events in Indonesia's parliament unfolded. The
\nrupiah dipped to around Rp 10,230 late in the Asian day, but was
\nstill about 9 percent higher from the close of Rp 11,150 Friday.
\nIt was the rupiah's strongest finish since the Rp 9,850 March 15.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar tracked the Indonesian rupiah higher
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Late in Asian trade the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.8240,
\ndown from S$1.8250 late Friday. It traded between S$1.8237 and
\nS$1.8255 in Asia Monday.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar and rupiah often move in tandem, and any
\nnegative news in Indonesia would usually weigh on the local
\ndollar.<\/p>\n
The Thai baht similarly got a lift from the developments in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Late in Asia the dollar was quoted at 45.746 baht, down from
\n45.775 baht late Friday.<\/p>\n
In the Philippines, the peso was weighed down by strong
\ncorporate dollar demand in anticipation of further weakness in
\nthe local currency.<\/p>\n
However, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's open support of
\nthe central bank's measures to curb currency speculation, which
\nshe declared during her first state-of-the-nation address late
\nMonday, could cap the gains of the dollar in the coming session,
\ntraders said.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at a high of 53.40 pesos from 53.15 pesos at
\nthe close Friday.<\/p>\n
Weakness in the Korean stock market and a softer yen pushed
\nthe won lower against the dollar Monday.<\/p>\n
The dollar finished at 1,309.3 won, up from Friday's close of
\n1,305.6 won.<\/p>\n
The dollar's rise to Y123.44 early Monday from Y122.96 Friday
\nunderpinned the dollar against the won.<\/p>\n
The Kospi closed down 2.5 percent at a three-month low of
\n524.21 points Monday on growing pessimism over the global
\neconomy. Foreigners' net selling on the Kospi Monday amounted to
\n45.6 billion won.<\/p>\n
The New Taiwan dollar was buoyed by exporter U.S. dollar
\nsales.<\/p>\n
The U.S. dollar ended at NT$34.893, compared with NT$34.961
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
The local currency received a further boost from speculation
\nthat the president's economic development advisers think the New
\nTaiwan dollar is undervalued, dealers said.<\/p>\n
Inflows of foreign equity funds also helped the currency.
\nForeign investors Monday bought a net NT$792 million of shares on
\nthe main board.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/news-on-abdurrahman-boosts-rupiah-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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