Asian monies mixed late, Singapore dollar strengthen to 6-week
Asian monies mixed late, Singapore dollar strengthen to 6-week
high
Nirmala Menon
Dow Jones
Singapore
Asian currencies were mixed within tight trading ranges
Wednesday with bouts of profit-taking erasing gains from the
yen's strength.
Trading was mostly subdued, with limited reaction during the
session to further easing of monetary policy by the Bank of
Japan, traders said.
Uncertainties about the U.S. economy and its impact on export-
driven countries in the region remained on the radar screen,
especially after a dismal consumer confidence report that sent
the U.S. dollar reeling overnight.
Traders said market players are now focused on further
important economic data from the U.S. Friday, and are reluctant
to take positions ahead of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee
Meeting Nov. 6.
Foreign exchange investors also don't have a big appetite for
risk heading into the year-end, said Thio Chin Loo, Singapore-
based senior currency analyst at BNP Paribas.
"The overall market tone is still fairly mixed. Regional
currencies are still taking directly from the dollar yen," she
added.
The Singapore dollar mirrored the yen's moves during the
session, and was quoted around S$1.7698, down from S$1.7713 late
Tuesday, but off an overnight six-week low of S$1.7660.
The firm yen failed to provide much spark for the South Korean
won, which fell on dollar demand from offshore players, and also
dollar buying ahead of expected equity-related flows.
The dollar ended at 1,231.8 won, up from 1,227.4 won Tuesday,
after trading between 1,225.0 won and 1,237.8 won.
"Unexpected dollar flow" from an offshore fund sent the dollar
climbing at the start, said Dong-Ki Jang, chief dealer of foreign
exchange and derivatives at Shinhan Bank.
The Philippine peso was buoyed by strong dollar remittance
inflows from Filipinos working abroad ahead of the long weekend.
Philippine markets are closed for holidays on Thursday and
Friday.
The dollar ended at 53.140 peso on the Philippine Dealing
System, down from 53.175 peso Tuesday, after trading between
53.120 peso and 53.300 peso intraday.
The Thai baht weakened on offshore profit taking and sizable
dollar demand from importers and oil companies, traders said.
The dollar finished the Asian session at 43.41 baht, up from
43.35 baht Tuesday.
Some traders said rising security concerns in Thailand,
particularly after a small bomb explosion in a southern province,
also prompted offshore investors to sell the baht.
Hours before that blast, five schools were set on fire and a
bomb exploded at a Buddhist temple in other Muslim-dominated
areas in southern Thailand - acts which officials ascribed to
local disputes rather than terrorism.
In Indonesia, the rupiah's early gains were all erased by
dollar demand from local corporate repaying offshore debts at the
end of the month, traders said.
The dollar recovered from an intraday low of Rp 9,210 to end
at Rp 9,230, slightly up from Tuesday's close of Rp 9,220.
Interbank market participants joined in the dollar buying,
amid lingering security worries after the deadly bombing in Bali
on Oct. 12.
"At this juncture, nobody feels comfortable maintaining short-
dollar positions," said a trader at a local bank.
Elsewhere, the U.S. currency closed at NT$34.810 against the
New Taiwan dollar, a tad below Tuesday's NT$34.815. Intraday, the
pair moved between NT$34.785 and NT$34.849.
The yen's volatility did little to stimulate trading in the
Taiwan currency, while the market seemed to have shrugged off
falling local stock prices, traders said. Taiwan's key stock
index fell 1.2 percent Wednesday.