Asian monies inch up in subdued trading

Asian monies inch up in subdued trading

HONG KONG (Dow Jones): Tumbling stock prices weighed on North Asia's currencies Monday, but the falls seen in the foreign exchange market were mild compared to the slide in regional equities.

Most Southeast Asian currencies edged higher in subdued trading, but the rupiah finished Asian hours down on the day.

Rupiah closed lower in illiquid trading Monday as London-based participants bought back the dollar following its slide Friday and early in the session.

After falling to an intraday low of Rp 7,363 rupiah, the dollar closed at Rp 7,425, up from Rp 7,380 late Friday in Asia.

"Out of the blue the London-based participants bought back the dollar," said a dealer with a European bank in Jakarta. "I think they were just playing the range as I don't see any fundamental reasons for the dollar's rise."

Dealers said that local companies, which were usually keen to buy the U.S. unit stayed on the sidelines Monday.

Dealers expect market participants to adopt range-trading tactic Tuesday by trading the dollar between Rp 7,350 and Rp 7,450 on lack of fresh incentives.

The precipitous 6.5 percent plunge in Taipei's benchmark stock index triggered selling of New Taiwan dollar in both the onshore spot market and the offshore market in non-deliverable forward contracts.

At the end of Monday's session, the U.S. dollar was quoted against the Taiwanese currency at NT$30.741, up from NT$30.736 at the previous close.

A drop in South Korean stock prices also pulled the won lower Monday, as institutional investors bailed out of the market, reacting partly by expectations that heavy domestic fund redemptions would weigh on equity prices.

Data showing that South Korea posted a $1.35 billion trade deficit during the first 10 days of March also weighed on the currency. Analysts counseled against paying to much attention to the figure, however, warning that intramonth data aren't representative of Korea's favorable overall trade position.

At the close the dollar was trading at 1,120.40 won, up from 1,119.70 won Friday.

Trading in Southeast Asian currencies was tightly range-bound, with little fresh news to excite the market.

Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. currency eased to S$1.7046 late in Asian trading, from S$1.7062 towards the end of Friday's session.

Against the baht, the dollar slipped to 37.8250 baht, from 37.8400 baht Friday.

The Philippine peso inched a touch higher, with the U.S. currency falling to close at 40.865 pesos, down from 40.890 pesos at the previous close.