Asian Currencies down, dollar recovers after recent slide
Asian Currencies down, dollar recovers after recent slide
Dow Jones Singapore
Most Asian currencies weakened on Thursday in holiday-thinned trading as the dollar took a breather from its recent slide in the region.
The Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso all edged lower against the dollar in cautious trading on the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
The Singapore dollar was little changed, and the South Korean won and New Taiwan dollar weren't traded because financial markets in Seoul and Taipei were closed for public holidays.
The dollar bounced back against the baht after hitting a 14- month low against the Thai currency a day earlier.
Traders said demand for the U.S. currency came from banks stocking up on dollars as they prepared to establish loan facilities with Thai state-owned enterprises seeking dollars for foreign debt repayment.
Offshore players also bought dollars to cover their short positions in the U.S. currency.
Late in Asian trading the dollar was quoted at 40.445 baht, off its morning high of 40.520 baht, but still up from 40.375 baht late on Wednesday.
The strength of the baht, which is up 6.5 percent against the dollar so far this year, has prompted Thai officials to intervene to slow the baht's rise, and crack down on speculative trading of the currency.
Nonetheless, central bank Governor Pridiyathorn Devakula has indicated he is comfortable with the baht's appreciation because it has been broadly in line with other regional currencies.
The Singapore dollar continued to hold its ground following the confirmation earlier this week of the first case of SARS in the city-state in four months.
Near the end of Asian trading the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7481 compared with S$1.7482 late in Asia on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar traded between S$1.7473 and S$1.7516 intraday.
But trade in the local currency market was very thin, and the U.S. dollar spent much of the session hovering around S$1.7490. Market participants were cautious due to the possibility of terrorist strikes to coincide with the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The peso relinquished its early gains to finish lower against the dollar.
The Philippine currency initially strengthened on suspected central bank intervention, but dollar buyers emerged after the U.S. currency fell as low as 54.890 peso.
Market players remain generally bearish toward the peso due mostly to concerns about the political and security stability in the Philippines.
The dollar buying continued throughout the session, pushing it to 55.030 peso at the close, up from 54.950 peso late on Wednesday.
The rupiah weakened as players covered short dollar positions after the U.S. currency's rise in the region.
Late in Asia the dollar was quoted at Rp 8,465, up from Rp 8,430 late Wednesday.
With little in the way of fresh news to trade on, market players looked at the movement of other regional currencies for guidance.