Rupiah leads sell-off amid worsening unrest<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (Agencies): Escalating violence in Indonesia sparked
\na steep sell-off in the rupiah Wednesday, which in turn dragged
\nother Asian currencies lower.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar, Thai baht and Philippine peso all ended
\nAsian trading hours considerably weaker as contagion spread
\nbeyond Indonesia's borders to infect other regional markets.<\/p>\n
North Asian currencies were unaffected, but in Seoul the
\nKorean government's repeated efforts to talk down the won bore
\nfruit, as the local currency retreated further from the two-year
\nhigh it set Monday.<\/p>\n
The New Taiwan dollar ended flat in relatively thin trading.<\/p>\n
The outbreak of inter-religious strife in the previously
\npeaceful Indonesian island of Lombok, along with news of violent
\ndemonstrations by dispossessed farmers on Bintan near Singapore,
\nwas blamed for souring sentiment toward the rupiah early in the
\nsession.<\/p>\n
Unconfirmed market rumors that the violence had spread to
\nJakarta further multiplied the pressure on the Indonesian
\ncurrency, and in thin early afternoon dealing the U.S. dollar
\nbroke up through resistance at the Rp 7,300 level to hit an
\nintraday high of Rp 7,245.<\/p>\n
Traders and investors ignored the positive implications of
\nU.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers' upcoming visit to
\nJakarta Thursday, the expected approval by parliament of
\nIndonesia's 2000 budget and the signing of a new letter of intent
\nwith the International Monetary Fund which is due to follow.<\/p>\n
Instead they focused on the bad news, selling down not just
\nthe rupiah, but other regional currencies.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the big funds that would move the market would prefer
\nto be short dollars against the rupiah,\" said Simon Flint,
\nregional foreign exchange strategist at Bank of America in
\nSingapore. But \"there's too much going on, too much violence, too
\nmuch political uncertainty.\"<\/p>\n
The greenback rose to Rp 7,335 from Tuesday's close of 7,250,
\nS$1.6770 from 1.6750, NT$30.835 from 30.830, 40.695 pesos from
\n40.605, 1,134 won from 1,126.50 and 37.45 baht from 37.29.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, the euro traded at 1.0123 dollars, up from
\nTuesday's closing here of 1.0114, according to Banque Nationale
\nde Paris. The euro opened trading here Wednesday at 1.0139
\ndollars.<\/p>\n
The dollar fetched 105.87 yen, up from 105.20 a day earlier
\nhere. The greenback opened at 105.73.<\/p>\n
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. said the euro's high was 1.0163 dollars
\nwhile the greenback's high was 105.80 yen.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-leads-sell-off-amid-worsening-unrest-1447893297",
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