Asian currencies mostly up late, rupiah closes slightly lower
Asian currencies mostly up late, rupiah closes slightly lower
Netty Ismail, Dow Jones, Singapore
Most Asian currencies were higher late Wednesday, with the
rally in North Asian stock markets overpowering the pressure on
the currencies of South Korea and Taiwan from a tottering yen,
dealers said.
Overall, trading in the region's currencies was listless, as a
public holiday in Singapore sapped liquidity in Asia's foreign
exchange markets.
Any regional currency strength was also constrained by the
dollar's resilience against the other major currencies, in
particular the yen, dealers said.
The dollar retained its overnight gains, which were inspired
by signs of progress in the U.S.-led battle against terrorism,
following reports Tuesday that the opposition northern alliance
had taken control of the Afghan capital of Kabul from the ruling
Taliban regime.
Further suggestions by the U.S. government that Monday's
airplane crash in New York was accidental and not caused by
terrorism also provided additional solace to the dollar.
At 0827 GMT, the dollar was quoted at 121.86 yen, higher than
121.61 yen late Tuesday in New York. The dollar was at 120.91 yen
late Tuesday in Tokyo.
The South Korean won ended firmer as a resumption in foreign
equity fund inflows into the Seoul stock market - after Tuesday's
sell off - overwhelmed the pressure from a weaker yen, dealers
said.
The dollar closed at 1,284.6 won, lower than 1,287.4 won
Tuesday.
The Thai currency strengthened slightly to 44.400 baht to the
dollar compared with 44.465 baht late Tuesday.
The Indonesian currency gave up a bulk of its earlier gains as
companies snapped up dollars to meet their debt repayments,
dealers said.
The dollar had fallen to as low as 10,560 rupiah earlier on
profit-taking by banks, they added.
The dollar ended at 10,640 rupiah, slightly lower than 10,665
rupiah late Tuesday.
Dragged down by the yen's fall, the Singapore dollar weakened
to S$1.8268 against its U.S. counterpart in thin offshore trading
compared with S$1.8252 late Tuesday. Singapore's financial
markets will re-open Thursday.