Asian currencies mixed late, dollar fails to sustain rise

Asian currencies mixed late, dollar fails to sustain rise

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones) : Asian currencies were mixed late
Thursday, after having recouped most of their earlier losses as
the dollar remained wobbly against the yen despite the threat of
intervention by Japanese authorities.

With little in the form of direction from the stable yen in
early trading, most of the region's currencies fell under the
sway of the Singapore dollar's swift decline, dealers said.

But the U.S. dollar failed to sustain its upward momentum,
eventually succumbing to worries over the economic fallout of
last week's terrorist attacks and uncertainty over the nature and
extent of U.S. retaliation against the perpetrators of the
assaults, dealers said.

"Everything should be sideways, at least between now and the
end of the month," said a dealer at a European bank.

Fears of central bank intervention, if not talk of actual
intervention, also kept the market nervous, dealers said.

"Central banks galore," said the European bank dealer.

The Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah regained their
footing after the central bank was suspected of having sold
dollars to halt the depreciation of their respective currencies,
dealers said.

Some dealers believed Taiwan's central bank bought U.S.
dollars to prevent the local currency from strengthening with the
yen.

There was also some talk - which many in the market played
down, if not dismissed - that the authorities in Singapore and
Thailand had intervened to weaken their currencies, dealers said.

Early in the day, the Singapore dollar floundered to S$1.7460
against its U.S. counterpart, compared with S$1.7417 late
Wednesday.

U.S. dollar purchases by a large U.S. bank and investment
houses based in Hong Kong propelled the currency, dealers said.

The sharp jump fueled speculation that the Monetary Authority
of Singapore had bought U.S. dollars.

At 0935 GMT (4.35 p.m. Jakarta time), the U.S. dollar was at
S$1.7416, little changed from S$1.7417 late Wednesday.

The South Korean won and the New Taiwan dollar teetered as
foreign funds bailed out of their equity markets, dealers said.

The New Taiwan dollar, however, found respite from U.S. dollar
purchases by the central bank late in the session, dealers said.

The New Taiwan dollar ended at NT$34.575 against the U.S.
currency, marginally weaker compared with Wednesday's close of
NT$34.572. Trading volume was US$279.0 million, less than half of
Wednesday's $719.0 million.

In Seoul, the dollar continued to face strong resistance
around 1,300 won. The dollar finished at 1,297.5 won, slightly
higher than 1,296.5 won Wednesday.

The Thai currency weakened to 44.220 baht per dollar, compared
with 44.190 baht late Tuesday as U.S. banks snapped up dollars,
dealers said.

The Indonesian rupiah ended higher Thursday as foreign players
took profits on the dollar's recent strength and as the central
bank reportedly sold dollars to help the local currency.

The dollar was quoted between Rp 9,425 and Rp 9,470 late
Thursday, much lower than Rp 9,530 to Rp 9,590 late Wednesday.

The U.S. currency touched an intraday high of Rp 9,735 as
local companies bought dollars to repay debt or to pay for
imports.

Dealers said the continuing local corporate demand for dollars
for debt repayments, however, limited the rupiah's gains.

The rupiah is also facing pressure over a possible retaliation
by the U.S. for last week's terrorist attacks, which could incite
further unrest in Indonesia, the world's most populace Muslim
nation.

On the Philippine Dealing System, the dollar closed at 51.290
pesos, down from 51.400 pesos Wednesday.