Asian currencies mostly up, U.S. dollar takes battering

Asian currencies mostly up, U.S. dollar takes battering

Nirmala Menon, Dow Jones

Most Asian currencies were higher Monday with several shooting
to new multi-month highs Monday as confidence in the U.S. dollar
was hammered by a new string of accounting revelations from U.S.
companies, and after Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro
Shiokawa's bearish remarks over the weekend.

Only the Indonesian rupiah weakened against the U.S. dollar as
central bank purchases of the local currency couldn't offset
corporate purchases of dollars to pay for imports. The Korean won
and the Thai baht both ended at multi-month highs, while the
Philippine peso, Singapore dollar and New Taiwan dollar closed
higher against the U.S. unit.

"People pretty much jumped on the sell dollar bandwagon," said
Thio Chin Loo, senior currency analyst at BNP Paribas in
Singapore, adding that Shiokawa's remarks over the weekend "isn't
good for the (dollar's) outlook."

At a weekend meeting of European and Asian finance chiefs in
Copenhagen, Shiokawa said officials in various countries believed
the dollar was in a downtrend, and could fall to its post-Sept.
11 low of 115.80 yen.

The greenback was dealt a further blow by more accounting-
related controversies at big U.S. companies, analysts and traders
said.

Drug giant Merck & Co. said it recorded $12.4 billion in
revenue from its pharmacy benefits unit over the past three years
that it never actually collected. However, Merck said its
revenue-recognition policy conforms to generally accepted
accounting principles and that it wouldn't affect its net income.

That news came soon after energy firms Reliant Resources and
Reliant Energy late Friday announced they had amended their
revenues downward by more than a combined $15 billion.

Analysts said the spate of accounting controversies has
further overshadowed the dollar's already week outlook.

"A lot hinges on the headline news on these issues. For now,
the risk is to the downside on the U.S. dollar," said Thio.

In Asian trading, the Singapore dollar rose in tandem with the
yen, and ahead of the release of advance estimates of second-
quarter gross domestic product data Wednesday.

Late Monday, the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7625, from
S$1.7721 late Friday.

Against the baht, the dollar crashed to a 22-month low and was
quoted at 41.435 baht late Monday from 41.645 baht before.

A lack of corporate demand for dollars coupled with the
greenback's general weakness helped boost the Philipine peso. The
dollar ended at 50.470 pesos, from 50.595 pesos Friday.

Meanwhile, the Korean won rode on the yen's rise to a 19-month
high against the dollar. The dollar ended at 1,191.4 won from
1,204.9 won Friday.

The won strengthened despite another government warning
intended to dull the bullish won sentiment.

Against the New Taiwan dollar, the greenback closed at
NT33.513, from NT33.580 Friday, even though the central bank
reportedly intervened to buy U.S. dollars intermittently.

But the Indonesian rupiah bucked the regional trend and
weakened, despite intervention by Bank Indonesia.

Traders said demand from importers surged, likely against any
rising political uncertainty ahead of the annual session of the
country's highest legislative body next month, and after weekend
violence in troubled Aceh province.

State oil company Pertamina was suspected of buying U.S.
dollars earlier in the day to finance the import of fuels.

Late Monday, the dollar was quoted at Rp 8,900, from Rp 8,850
late Friday.