Won ascends but rupiah slips from 5-month high<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The South Korean won strengthened
\ndespite government intervention, but the Indonesian rupiah fell
\nback from a five-month high in choppy trading in Asian foreign-
\nexchange markets Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Other regional currencies were mostly a touch stronger.<\/p>\n
After being sold down to an intraday low of 1,197.10 won from
\nthe open, the U.S. currency was forced back up to a high of
\n1,205.00 won, before slipping again to close at 1,198.00, down a
\ntouch from 1,200.00 at Monday's close.<\/p>\n
\"There is quite a bit of intervention going on,\" the country
\ntreasurer at a U.S. bank in Seoul explained.<\/p>\n
Despite the market's volatility, most dealers expect the won
\nto continue to trade around present levels, with the U.S. dollar
\noscillating around the 1,200 won mark as long as the U.S.
\ncurrency remains in the vicinity of 120 against the yen.<\/p>\n
Although trade and investment flows are both strongly won-
\npositive, the U.S. dollar is being supported by the Korean
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The current dollar-buying by government banks comes less than
\ntwo weeks after the Korean finance minister, Lee Kyu-sung,
\nannounced plans to soak up $4.6 billion of dollar liquidity from
\nthe foreign-exchange market in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Asia, the Indonesian rupiah rose to hit its
\nhighest level since mid-December in early trading, before profit-
\ntaking kicked in and forced it lower again.<\/p>\n
After being sold down to 7,590 rupiah, buying from Hong Kong
\nand Jakarta lifted the U.S. dollar to Rp 7,865 toward the end of
\nAsian trading hours, up from Rp 7,780 late the day before.<\/p>\n
\"The onshore market has been buying dollars all the while.
\nToday we also saw some buying coming from the offshore market,\" a
\nrupiah trader at a U.S. bank in Singapore said.<\/p>\n
With the rupiah up 20 percent from lows seen earlier in the
\nyear, and the U.S. currency falling to levels approaching the
\nIndonesian government's target exchange rate of Rp 7,500, \"it is
\nonly logical for the market to take some profits\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Singapore dollar also slipped from its intraday high
\nTuesday, as traders scrambled to buy U.S. dollars after solid
\nbidding interest caught the market short of the U.S. currency,
\naccording to brokers in Singapore.<\/p>\n
After finding support from bids placed at S$1.7960 by local
\nbanks, the U.S. dollar was bought back up, to end Asian trading
\nat S$1.6984, down from S$1.7001 late the day before.<\/p>\n
The Thai baht continued to edge higher, with dealers reporting
\ngenerally upbeat sentiment in quiet trading. Toward the end of
\nAsian trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 36.7350 baht, down
\nfrom 36.8200 the previous day.<\/p>\n
Activity was also relatively light on the Philippine Dealing
\nSystem, where the peso pushed to a 13-month high. At the close,
\nthe U.S. dollar was quoted at 37.600 pesos, down from 37.650
\npesos, on trading volumes of just $157 million.<\/p>\n
Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. currency closed at
\nNT$32.735, down from NT$32.761 at the end of Monday's session.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/won-ascends-but-rupiah-slips-from-5-month-high-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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