Asian currencies mostly down late, but off lows on yen
Asian currencies mostly down late, but off lows on yen
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies remained depressed in subdued trading late Monday, but off their morning lows as the Japanese yen regained its footing following a brief fall to 125 yen against the dollar earlier in the day.
"Today's movements are pretty much in tandem with the yen's," said a senior dealer at a European bank.
Uncertainty surrounding the regional central banks' next moves, however, confined currencies within narrow trading bands, dealers said.
The Indonesian rupiah ended higher Monday on news the International Monetary Fund is likely to send a team to the country this week in a bid to restart a stalled $5 billion lending program.
The dollar closed at Rp 11,320, down from Friday's close of Rp 11,410, after trading in a Rp 11,290-Rp 11,390 range.
"The news of the IMF visit helped the rupiah a lot today," said one local dealer at a foreign bank in Jakarta.
The rupiah's strength pushed investors that were long dollars into stop-loss selling, the dealer said.
The IMF's local representative John Dodsworth said Monday a mission is likely this week to review economic reforms that Indonesia must undertake in order to qualify for loans from the fund.
The yen extended its recent fall after the Bank of Japan released data confirming that the country is heading for another recession, even though the closely-watched quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment was slightly better than market expectations.
At 0838 GMT (3.38 p.m. Jakarta time), the dollar had pulled back to 124.55 yen, but below 124.74 yen late Friday in New York.
Markets are now holding their breath for the U.S. National Purchasing Managers Association June data, or NAPM, scheduled for 1400 GMT (9 p.m. Jakarta time) Monday.
South Korea continued to feel the brunt of the global electronics downturn; exports dropped 13.4 percent year-on-year in June, according to data issued Sunday.
The South Korean won barely reacted to the data, succumbing to the yen's earlier weakness instead.
The dollar closed at 1,301.0 won, up from Friday's close of 1,297.5 won.
The Singapore dollar fell under the sway of the wavering yen and reported comments by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the weekend that the city-state must brace itself for a more severe and prolonged economic downturn, dealers said.
The Singapore dollar was quoted at S$1.8227 against its U.S. counterpart, compared with S$1.8211 late Friday.
Fears of central bank intervention around S$1.8240 to S$1.8250 kept a rein on the Singapore dollar's decline, dealers said.
The regional currency slump, corporate demand for dollars, concerns over the protracted hostage crisis in the South and talk of efforts to destabilize the government conspired to drag the Philippine peso to a five-and-a-half month low, dealers said.
The Philippine currency closed at 52.700 pesos to the dollar, compared with 52.395 pesos Friday.
The Thai currency was slightly weaker at 45.325 baht against the dollar, compared with 45.280 baht late Friday.
Foreign equity fund inflows and exporter sales of the U.S. currency helped lift the New Taiwan dollar, countering the pressure from the yen and U.S. dollar purchases by the central bank, dealers said.
The U.S. dollar ended at NT$34.428, lower than Friday's close of NT$34.435.