Asian currencies mostly up late but Taiwan dollar flat
Asian currencies mostly up late but Taiwan dollar flat
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies were up late Tuesday on the back of a slight rise in the Japanese yen, dealers said.
But the region's gains failed to rub off on the New Taiwan dollar, which remained under pressure for most of the day, until the central bank came to its defense toward the close, dealers said.
The Indonesian rupiah ended slightly higher, but trading was rangebound as investors wait to see if President Abdurrahman Wahid can survive the current political crisis.
The dollar closed at Rp 11,430 Tuesday, little changed from its close Monday at Rp 11,450
The U.S. currency moved in a very tight Rp 11,400 to Rp 11,460 range Tuesday as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines.
The New Taiwan dollar ended unchanged from Monday's 31-month closing low of NT$33.456 against the U.S. currency.
Before the central bank had sold some US$50 million just minutes before trading ended, the New Taiwan dollar was weaker at NT$33.480, dealers said.
The central bank's Deputy Governor Hsu Yi-hsiung's comments late Monday, that the New Taiwan dollar is undervalued and has room to appreciate, kept a rein on the currency's earlier decline, dealers said.
But, by not defending the New Taiwan dollar more aggressively Tuesday, the central bank failed to douse speculation that the government may tolerate a further depreciation of the currency to revive the sluggish economy, dealers said.
A local newspaper report over the weekend citing the influential private think-tank, the Taiwan Research Institute, as suggesting the government should let the currency weaken to as low as NT$40.000 to help stabilize the economy was the catalyst behind the New Taiwan dollar's fall.
The stable yen and foreign equity fund inflows into the Seoul exchange lifted the South Korean won, dealers said.
The dollar finished at 1,296.5 won, down from Monday's close of 1,301.5 won
South Korea's gross domestic product growth slowed to 3.7 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2001, compared with a 12.6 percent rise in the same period a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.
Still, the first-quarter growth was slightly above economists' consensus forecasts of 3.5 percent growth.
Late Tuesday, the Singapore dollar surrendered most of the day's gains - which were fueled by the yen's earlier rise - as the euro skidded to a new year-low of US$0.8700, dealers said.
After staying below S$1.8100 most of the day, the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.8108 at 1030 GMT (5.30 p.m. Jakarta time), compared with S$1.8113 late Monday.
But lingering fears of intervention by the Monetary Authority of Singapore will keep a rein on the local currency's decline, dealers said.
The Thai and Philippine currencies found mild respite from the steady undertone in many of the regional foreign exchange markets, dealers said.
The dollar was at 45.605 baht, slightly lower than 45.630 baht late Monday.
On the Philippine Dealing System, the dollar closed at 50.645 pesos, down from 50.840 pesos Monday.