Asian currencies up and rupiah higher on exporter dollar selling
Asian currencies up and rupiah higher on exporter dollar selling
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies rebounded
Thursday in response to local factors and a move by market
participants to trim their dollar positions following a recent
run-up in the U.S. currency.
Central bank intervention helped the New Taiwan dollar
stabilize after it plunged to a nine-month low a day earlier in
response to continued political turmoil.
The Thai baht, Philippine Peso, Indonesian rupiah, Singapore
dollar and South Korean won all edged marginally higher in the
absence of any major negative political or economic news.
"Most major banks were long U.S. dollars and were unwinding
their positions," a trader at an Asian bank said.
The rupiah closed higher after a round of exporter dollar
selling, but the local currency's rise was capped by ongoing
political concerns.
The dollar closed at Rp 8,790, down from Rp 8,820 late
Tuesday.
Local exporters pushed the dollar down to an intraday low of
Rp 8,760 in the early afternoon. The dollar's rise this week has
created an opportunity for companies to move dollar profits back
to Indonesia, analysts say.
But a move by state prosecutors to file an appeal against the
dropping last week of former president Soeharto's corruption
trial sparked a bout of dollar buying in late trade.
Investors are concerned the ongoing political furor around
Soeharto could spill over again onto the streets, further
destabilizing the country.
The New Taiwan dollar was little changed after the central
bank continued its recent pattern of selling U.S. dollars in the
open market to support the local currency.
At the close, the U.S. dollar was quoted at NT$31.320,
compared with NT$31.322 a day earlier. Wednesday's decline in the
currency was inspired by Prime Minister Tang Fei's departure, the
latest chapter in Taiwan's ongoing political saga.
Late in Asia, the dollar was quoted at 42.495 Thai baht, down
from 42.595 baht late Wednesday.
The South Korean won benefited from a gain in local stocks
and, to a lesser extent, the Bank of Korea's surprise decision to
raise its one-day call rate by 25 basis points to around 5.25
percent.
The dollar finished at 1,118.50 won, down from Wednesday's
close of 1,119.90 won.
The Philippine peso was bolstered by the central bank's move
to raise banks' reserve requirements to quell speculative
pressure on the local currency, and by intervention by the
central bank.
The dollar closed at 46.420 pesos on the Philippine Dealing
System, down from 46.460 pesos at the previous close.
The Singapore dollar followed the Thai baht higher. Late
Thursday the U.S. dollar was trading at S$1.7472, down from
S$1.7483 late Wednesday. In a day of volatile trading, the
Singapore dollar weakened to an intraday low of S$1.7511 against
the U.S. dollar before recovering.