Asian monies mixed against U.S. dollar
Asian monies mixed against U.S. dollar
Alan Yonnan, Dow Jones, Singapore
Asian currencies were mixed in listless trading Friday as market players refrained from staking out large positions ahead of a long holiday weekend in the U.S.
The Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah crept higher against the dollar, while the New Taiwan dollar and Philippine peso weakened. The South Korean won and Singapore dollar were virtually unchanged.
The yen, which often helps set the tone in regional currency markets, was of little help as it struggled to establish a clear direction following the release of mixed economic data in Japan.
The New Taiwan dollar was the biggest mover, hit by continuing outflows of foreign funds from the local stock market.
The U.S. dollar closed at NT$34.247, compared with NT$34.193 at Thursday's finish.
Volume was a thin US$325 million, with many participants sidelined ahead of the long weekend. Markets in the U.S. will be closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.
Sales of shares by foreign investors contributed to a 0.7 percent decline in the Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index. The index was down 4 percent for the week.
Pressure on the Taiwan currency is likely to persist in the near term due to weakness in the information technology sector, the country's weak banking system, and cross straits tensions with China, according to Claudio Piron, currency strategist at Standard Chartered Bank.
The bank is forecasting the U.S. dollar to edge up to NT$34.420 over the next month.
The peso faced mild selling pressure as corporations bought dollars to cover month-end foreign debt requirements and banks covered their short positions in the U.S. currency.
The dollar's decline against the peso over the previous four sessions made it an attractive buy, traders said.
The dollar closed at 51.840 pesos on the Philippine Dealing System, up from 51.760 pesos late Thursday. Trading volume was a scant $139 million.
The rupiah got some help from dollar selling by a government agency.
Traders said the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, or IBRA, was in the market selling dollars it has received as proceeds from its asset sales.
Late in Asia, the dollar was quoted at Rp 8,840, down from Rp 8,875 late Thursday.
IBRA aims to sell a total of Rp 43 trillion worth of assets this year to help plug the deficit in the state budget, which is expected to run at 2.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
Against the baht, the dollar was quoted at 42.000 bath, compared with 42.230 bath late Thursday.
A government report earlier Friday showing that Thailand's trade balance swung to a deficit in July had little impact on trading.
Imports rose 11.1 percent and exports climbed just 7.7 percent from a year earlier, producing a trade larger-than-expected trade gap of $185 million.
The won was little changed for the second straight session.
The dollar ended at 1,201.9 won, compared with Thursday's finish of 1,201.5 won.
Dollar demand came mainly from foreign investors, who unloaded local stocks for the fifth straight session.
Against the Singapore dollar the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7487 in late Asian trade, compared with S$1.7485 late Thursday.
Faced with a lack of fresh domestic leads, market players mainly took their cue from the broader U.S. dollar trend against its other regional counterparts.