Asian monies mostly up, new closing low for peso

Asian monies mostly up, new closing low for peso

Dow Jones, Singapore

The Philippine peso bucked the regional trend to fall to an all-time closing low for the third straight day on Thursday, undermined by continued political and security concerns.

Other Asian currencies firmed on the back of stronger stock markets and the yen's gains against the dollar and the euro.

The dollar ended at 55.265 peso on the Philippine Dealing System, up from 55.190 peso on Wednesday, though off the intraday peak of 55.280 peso, which was itself a 31-month high.

Traders said the threat of more unrest in the military after a failed mutiny last month, and political uncertainty ahead of next year's elections are supporting the dollar's gains against the peso.

The peso's decline was in marked contrast to its stronger regional counterparts, which were supported by equity-related inflows and the yen's strength, said David Simmonds, senior emerging markets strategist for Asia at The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Portfolio investors consider Asian markets "a relatively cheap and attractive play on the global growth pickup, which puts the (regional) currencies under appreciating pressure," Simmonds said.

The South Korean won finished at its strongest since end- January on the back continued stock-related dollar sales and the yen's gains, traders said.

The dollar closed at 1,173.0 won, down from 1,175.5 won on Wednesday.

Anticipation of won selling by the government supported the dollar around 1,174 won in the morning, but the dollar's losses widened in the afternoon as selling by foreign stock investors accelerated, traders said.

They said the government likely kept away from buying dollars during the session as any effort to prop up the U.S. unit would most probably be offset by its decline against the yen.

The Singapore dollar rose to a fresh two-month high in Asia on portfolio inflows into the local stock market and yen strength, but trimmed gains later in the session.

The tumbling euro also aided the local unit because of its weighting in the undisclosed trade-weighted basket of currencies against which the central bank guides the Singapore currency.

The U.S. dollar fell as low as S$1.7360 but recovered somewhat to trade around S$1.7398 late in the local session, though still down from S$1.7488 late on Wednesday.

Concerns that the central bank might sell its currency was one reason why the U.S. unit recouped some losses, traders said.

Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. unit closed at NT$34.238, down from NT$34.298 Wednesday, on foreign buying of local shares and the yen's gains.

"We have seen massive (U.S. dollar) selling from foreign banks and I think it's inflows for investment," said a Taipei dealer.

Overseas investors bought a net NT$9.01 billion of local shares on Thursday, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Traders suspected the local dollar would have strengthened further if not for intervention by Taiwan's central bank.

The Indonesian rupiah extended gains for the third straight day as investments into the country continued to recover on fading security concerns, dealers said.

The dollar closed at Rp 8,390, down from Rp 8,415 on Wednesday.

The Thai baht strengthened in tandem with its regional counterparts. Late in Asia, the dollar was quoted around 41.55 baht, down from 41.68 baht late on Wednesday.