SE Asian currencies mixed; baht falls, rupiah rises<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Southeast Asian currencies turned in a
\nmixed performance on Friday. The Thai baht fell, while the
\nIndonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso inched upward. The
\nSingapore dollar traded sideways.<\/p>\n
In North Asian trading, the South Korean won and the New
\nTaiwan dollar both ended higher, lifted by the early rise in the
\nyen.<\/p>\n
With the swings in the yen's exchange rate set to remain the
\ndominant influence on regional foreign exchange markets, most
\ndealers cautiously predict that Southeast Asian currencies will
\nstay within broad trading ranges over the coming week.<\/p>\n
\"All the regionals are very yen-related,\" said the head of
\nregional currency trading at one U.S. bank in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"None of these moves are very significant. Everybody just
\nfollows the dollar\/yen exchange rate until the market is caught
\neither long or short, and then they just go for the stops,\" he
\nadded, referring to stop loss orders, which are pre-placed to
\nclose out positions should the exchange rate move adversely.<\/p>\n
Only in Thailand, where the market awaits the results of
\nFriday's Financial Sector Restructuring Authority auction of a
\nnotional US$6 billion-worth of defunct finance company assets,
\nare traders eying developments in the local market.<\/p>\n
\"The results of the FRA auction won't be great, but there
\nwon't be a big impact on the market,\" said a trader at a second
\nU.S. bank in Singapore, reflecting the generally held view in the
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
Following a call earlier in the week from Supachai
\nPanitchpakdi, Thailand's deputy prime minister and commerce
\nminister, for the baht to weaken in order to assist struggling
\nThai exporters, traders are generally looking to buy the dollar
\non any dips.<\/p>\n
With good bidding interest set to support the U.S. currency
\naround 37.20 baht, most players see the dollar pushing towards
\nthe top of its current range around 37.70 baht, although many
\nfeel it will remain capped at that level.<\/p>\n
Late in Asia on Friday, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 37.49500
\nbaht, up from 37.4650 baht towards Thursday's close.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the rupiah strengthened markedly on Friday after
\nselling pushed the U.S. dollar down through the Rp 9,000 barrier,
\ntriggering around $20 million worth of stop loss sales, according
\nto one trader's estimate.<\/p>\n
The U.S. currency stabilized in later trading, ending Asian
\nhours at Rp 8,900, down from Rp 9,025 late the previous day.
\nAgainst the Singapore dollar, the U.S. dollar ended almost flat
\non the day.<\/p>\n
According to a trader at a local bank the U.S. dollar
\nencountered strong buying interest on being sold down to
\nS$1.7220. With that level seen providing a short term floor for
\nthe U.S. currency, over the coming week he expects the U.S.
\ndollar to test upside resistance around S$1.7300.<\/p>\n
Late in Asia, the U.S. dollar was at S$1.7232, little
\ndifferent from S$1.7239 at the same time the day before.<\/p>\n
On the Philippine Dealing System, the peso ended higher,
\nlifted by the rise in the yen. At the close the U.S. dollar was
\nquoted at 38.750 pesos, compared with 38.865 pesos on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Most market participants expect the peso to remain steady
\nthrough the coming week, unaffected by the central bank's slight
\nreduction of short term interest rates late Friday after the
\nlocal market had closed.<\/p>\n
In North Asia the won ended higher, with the U.S. dollar
\nslipping to close at 1,220.80 won, down from 1,224.40 won the day
\nbefore.<\/p>\n
Against the Taiwanese currency, the U.S. dollar ended at
\nNT$33.096, compared with NT$33.107 the previous day.<\/p>",
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