Asian monies mostly down in late trading

Asian monies mostly down in late trading

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): While most other Asian currencies
drifted lower late Friday, the Singapore dollar defied the
downward pressure, thanks to suspected intervention by the
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), dealers said.

Domestic political and economic anxieties had stung the Thai
baht, the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah, dealers
said.

The MAS - which declined to comment Friday on its rumored
actions - was said to have sold U.S. dollars when the U.S.
currency climbed to a high of S$1.7380 in overnight trading. This
pushed the U.S. currency back down to its recent trading level
around S$1.7340, dealers said.

The de facto central bank defended the local currency again
around the level of S$1.7330 to S$1.7340 early Friday. Stop-loss
orders were triggered when the U.S. dollar sank below S$1.7300,
sending the U.S. currency reeling to below the S$1.7380 support
level, dealers said.

"We do have a market that was caught long," said Alison Seng,
an analyst at market consultants Standard & Poor's MMS
International.

Economists said the intervention doesn't herald a shift in the
central bank's monetary policy, which is to allow the Singapore
dollar to remain broadly stable against a trade-weighted basket
of currencies.

Instead, the MAS probably wanted to put the market on notice
that it wouldn't tolerate a significantly weaker Singapore
dollar, several economists said.

Bank of America said it expects the U.S. dollar's next support
level of around S$1.7250 to S$1.7260 to hold, ahead of a move
back to S$1.7300.

Strong corporate U.S. dollar demand - needed to fulfill the
recent string of overseas acquisitions - and expectations the
Indonesian rupiah will weaken further will continue to weigh on
the Singapore currency, analysts said.

Worries over the narrowing differentials between U.S. and
domestic interest rates hammered the Philippine peso, dealers
said. A lower-than-expected domestic oil price hike, however,
helped the peso recoup some of its intraday losses, they added.

The dollar closed at 43.230 pesos on the Philippine Dealing
System, up from Thursday's close of 43.170 pesos. The dollar rose
to an intraday high of 43.320 pesos earlier in the day, its
highest level since hitting 43.400 pesos May 25.

The 55-centavo per liter oil price increase, lower than the
expected 1.30 pesos per liter, helped the peso recover some of
its losses. Earlier Friday, central bank Governor Rafael
Buenaventura said an increase of 1.30 pesos would have been
inflationary.

In Thailand, political uncertainty, amid heightened fears of
an early election, weighed on the baht.

Around 1000 GMT, the dollar was at 39.205 baht, up from 39.165
baht late Thursday.

Mounting concerns over Indonesian President Abdurrahman
Wahid's hold on power and whether the country could meet its
economic reform deadlines by the middle of next week, which would
pave the way for the disbursement of funds by the International
Monetary Fund, weighed on the rupiah, dealers said.

Dollar-selling by Jakarta retail investors, however, capped
the U.S. currency's ascent around the Rp 8,745 to Rp 8,755 level,
dealers said. A lack of offshore buying interest, with the rupiah
having moved within narrow ranges recently, also stymied the
dollar's rise, they added.

The dollar ended Asian trading at Rp 8,753, up slightly from
Rp 8,735 late Thursday.

Dollar-demand by corporates that need to meet their debt
repayment schedule and the political uncertainty will likely push
the dollar higher to Rp 8,800 next week, dealers said.

The South Korean won barely moved against the U.S. dollar as
short-covering of dollars by local banks offset month-end dollar
selling by local exporters, traders said.

The dollar finished at 1,115 won, nearly flat from Thursday's
close of 1,114.90 won.

The New Taiwan dollar finished higher, bolstered by inward
flows that could mean foreign investors are preparing funds to
buy stocks at the start of the third quarter.

The U.S. dollar finished lower at NT$30.794, compared with
Thursday's close of NT$30.808.