Won, Taiwan dollar continue falling, rupiah unchanged<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The South Korean won and the New Taiwan
\ndollar extended their falls late Monday on domestic and
\ninternational pressures, while other Southeast Asian currencies
\nstaged a mixed performance.<\/p>\n
\"It's pretty much an established downtrend for the Taiwan
\ndollar and the Korean won,\" said Chi Lo, a senior economist at
\nStandard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian rupiah closed flat Monday as local companies'
\ndollar-demand and continued worries over separatist related
\nviolence offset offshore profit-taking, traders said.<\/p>\n
The dollar closed at 9,520 rupiah, unchanged from its closing
\nlevel in Asia Friday.<\/p>\n
Offshore dollar-selling set in since the pair were unable to
\nbreak their year-high of Rp 9,580 last week.<\/p>\n
But traders said dollar demand is still strong as corporations
\nseek the U.S. currency to service their debt before the yearend.<\/p>\n
Disturbances in Aceh Monday - where local separatists were
\nmarking the 24th anniversary of their unilateral declaration of
\nindependence from Indonesia - also helped keep a dollar on a bid
\ntone.<\/p>\n
Police tore down separatist flags Monday, while rebels from
\nthe Free Aceh Movement attacked Indonesian military outposts.
\nInvestors are concerned separatist pressure could pull
\nIndonesia's 30 provinces apart.<\/p>\n
Plans to decentralize power to the provinces from next year
\nhave worried many investors and the International Monetary Fund
\nwhich began a one-week mission to review the country's economy
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
The IMF is concerned Jakarta hasn't yet drawn up strict enough
\nguidelines to make sure the provinces don't use their new found
\npowers to increase borrowing, adding to an already burgeoning
\npublic debt.<\/p>\n
Foreign equity fund outflows pressured the currencies of South
\nKorea and Taiwan, although intervention by the Taiwanese central
\nbank earlier in the day cushioned the impact on the latter,
\ndealers said.<\/p>\n
The dollar was at 1,216.70 won, up from Friday's close of
\n1,209.50 won.<\/p>\n
Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. currency rose to a 20-
\nmonth high of NT$33.071, from the previous close of NT$32.995,
\nafter the central bank withdrew its support for the local dollar
\nlate in the day, dealers said.<\/p>\n
Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. dollar rebounded to
\nS$1.7525, after pulling back to as low as S$1.7475 earlier in the
\nday. Late Friday, the U.S. dollar was at S$1.7521.<\/p>\n
While the Singapore dollar's early rebound had prompted some
\ndealers to say the U.S. dollar may have found a short-term top at
\naround S$1.7600, UBS Warburg's currency strategist, Mansoor Mohi-
\nuddin, said the Singapore dollar remains vulnerable to potential
\nfurther weakness in the yen.<\/p>\n
In the Thai currency market, the dollar edged up slightly to
\n43.850 baht, from 43.790 baht late Friday. The baht was largely
\nsteady earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
The banning of same-day cash sales between onshore and
\noffshore counterparties without any commercial purpose has made
\nthe market more cautious of shorting the baht for now, noted UBS
\nWarburg's Mohi-uddin.<\/p>\n
But he added that the baht's respite will likely be transient
\namid political uncertainties ahead of Thailand's general
\nelections early next year.<\/p>\n
In Manila, the dollar edged up to 49.470 pesos, from Friday's
\nclose of 49.460 pesos.<\/p>",
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