Ringgit and rupiah pushed to new lows<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): The Malaysian ringgit and the Indonesian
\nrupiah slumped to new lows against the U.S. dollar in overnight
\nEuropean trading after they came under attack from hedge funds
\npouncing on Southeast Asian currency weakness, dealers said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
In early Asian trading yesterday, the U.S. dollar was fetching
\n2.5885 ringgit and 2,479 rupiah.<\/p>\n
The attack in Europe was a follow-up to the one late Wednesday
\nin Asia when funds pushed the regional currencies sharply lower,
\ncatching many central banks by surprise.<\/p>\n
These fresh attacks ended a brief spell of uneasy calm on
\nregional currency markets, which came under intense speculative
\npressure on Monday following the de facto devaluation of the Thai
\nbaht on July 2 and the Philippine peso last week.<\/p>\n
"Some hedge funds tried to pressure the ringgit and rupiah,
\nthey sold quite a chunk of these currencies," said Alison Seng,
\nanalyst with U.S. finance house MMS International.<\/p>\n
The ringgit plunged to a 34-month low of 2.5920 against the
\ngreenback from Wednesday's Asian close of 2.5700.<\/p>\n
The rupiah fell to 2,480.00 after hitting a low of 2,485
\nagainst the U.S. dollar from Wednesday's close of 2,471.<\/p>\n
Some hedge funds believed they could use thin liquidity
\nexpected yesterday due to a Moslem public holiday in Malaysia and
\nIndonesia to pin down the currencies of the two countries,
\ndealers said.<\/p>\n
But foreign exchange sources said some state-linked Malaysian
\nbanks and brokers had been asked to return to work yesterday to
\nhelp check ringgit volatility on behalf of the central bank.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the Singapore dollar also seemed to be under
\npressure yesterday as funds turned their attention to the robust
\ncurrency after the overnight attack against the ringgit and
\nrupiah.<\/p>\n
The Singapore unit was trading higher at 1.4531 against the
\ngreenback from Wednesday's close of 1.4455.<\/p>\n
"The players seem to think that the ringgit and rupiah had
\ncome down substantially and there were prospects for the
\nSingapore dollar to also come down," Seng of MMS International
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The peso was trading yesterday at 29.257 from Wednesday's
\nclose of 29.30 while the Thai baht hovered at 29.90 from 29.85.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ringgit-and-rupiah-pushed-to-new-lows-1447893297",
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