Asian monies up late, S'pore dollar shrugs off SARS

Asian monies up late, S'pore dollar shrugs off SARS

Asian currencies strengthened across the board on Wednesday, including the Singapore dollar, which rallied against the U.S. unit despite the discovery of a new SARS case in the city-state.

The Singapore dollar initially came under selling pressure late Tuesday after the government confirmed the first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome in four months.

But as it became clear Wednesday that the case was an isolated one, market players began buying back the Singapore dollar, helping it post its biggest daily gain in two weeks.

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Stock index drops, biggest fall in a month

Indonesia's benchmark stock index had its biggest fall in a month. PT H.M. Sampoerna, the nation's No. 2 cigarette maker by market value, dropped after saying first-half profit declined from a year ago.

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and PT Astra International led the slide among shares of the nation's largest companies after some investors judged the benchmark's 11 percent gain this month exceeded profit potential.