Asian monies mostly down late, Taiwan dollar at 15-year low

Asian monies mostly down late, Taiwan dollar at 15-year low

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies tracked the falls
in the Singapore dollar and the New Taiwan dollar to their
weakest levels in more than a decade late Wednesday, as market
participants came to grips with the dire state of the region's
economies, dealers said.

The Indonesian currency remained isolated from the region's
developments, trading unchanged around Rp 11,355 per dollar.

The slump on most of the regional stock markets - roiled by
Wall Street's overnight losses - and the battering suffered by
other emerging market currencies, also added to the gloom
prevading Asia's foreign exchange markets, dealers said.

Staggering under the weight of these burdens, Asian currencies
appear to have detached themselves from the yen's movements for
now, market watchers said.

At 0835 GMT (3:35 p.m. Jakarta time), the dollar was quoted at
124.74 yen, lower than 125.35 yen late Tuesday in New York, and
125.83 yen late Tuesday in Tokyo.

The New Taiwan dollar late in the day outpaced the Singapore
dollar's descent to finish at a 15-year low.

The Taipei bourse's close to a six-year low dealt another blow
to sentiment, already bruised by worries over the wheezing
economy, dealers said.

The central bank refrained from rescuing the local currency,
allowing it to slide past the NT$35 mark against the U.S. dollar
toward the close, dealers noted.

The U.S. dollar ended at NT$35.05, up from NT$34.656 Tuesday.
Dealings were valued at US$660 million, up from US$583 million
Tuesday.

Signaling the monetary authority's resolve to tolerate a
further weakening of the New Taiwan dollar, central bank board
Director Lin Chung-hsiung was quoted in a local daily as saying
that if the local currency needs to depreciate, it should be
allowed to, and that the central bank shouldn't overly intervene
in the foreign exchange markets.

The Singapore dollar continued to languish around 11-year
lows, despite suspected intervention by the monetary authority
earlier in the day, dealers said.

The U.S. dollar had risen to a fresh 11-year high of S$1.8377
in early trade, but pulled back to around S$1.8340, as aggressive
sales of the U.S. currency by a European and a local bank fueled
speculation they were acting on behalf of the Monetary Authority
of Singapore, dealers said.

But remarks by a minister Wednesday that it's a "near
certainty" Singapore's economy will contract again in the third
quarter pulled the rug out from under the Singapore dollar again,
dealers said.

At 0945 GMT (5:45 a.m. EDT), the U.S. dollar was at S$1.8345,
lower than S$1.8373 late Tuesday.

Feeling the strain from the weaker currencies of Taiwan and
Singapore, the South Korean won finally played catch up as it
snapped out of its recent trading range to close at a two-month
low, dealers said.

The dollar closed at 1,308.8 won Wednesday, up from 1,299.0
won Tuesday.

The Thai currency lapsed to 45.545 baht per dollar from 45.460
baht late Tuesday, after central bank Governor Pridiyathorn
Devakula said the authority wanted the baht "to move in line with
the regional trend".

The regional currency weakness spilled over onto the
Philippine Dealing System, where the dollar closed higher at
53.065 pesos, from 52.950 pesos Tuesday.