Asian regional currencies mixed
Asian regional currencies mixed
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Asian regional currencies finished mixed in a day of choppy trading Thursday, with the Indonesian rupiah taking a pause from its recent plunge.
But the worst isn't over for the rupiah, analysts said, noting that investors will likely remain concerned over Indonesia's political instability for some time.
The Philippine peso, Thai baht and New Taiwan dollar all closed lower from Wednesday, while the Singapore dollar and South Korean won were little changed.
The rupiah, which plunged 4 percent a day earlier after a bomb blast rocked the attorney general's office, was helped by comments from Senior Economic Minister Kwik Kian Gie. Kwik said he would meet with central bank officials next week to discuss ways to shore up the embattled currency.
Kwik also said the decline in the rupiah hasn't reflected Indonesia's economic indicators, such as inflation and interest rates, which remain favorable.
Near the end of Asian trading, the dollar was quoted at 9,290 rupiah, down from Rp 9,355 late Wednesday. Profit-taking also help lift the rupiah, which some market players saw as a good buy when it hit Rp 9,450 per dollar in overnight trading.
"But the bottom line is that the interest to buy dollars against the rupiah is still there and will remain as long as the political situation is unresolved," a trader said.
The Philippine peso fell through another key resistance level, closing at a 21-month low of 43.950 pesos to the dollar compared with 43.525 pesos a day earlier.
Dealers said the drop was more the result of weaker regional currencies and demand for dollars by corporations and importers than any specific distaste for the peso.
"There's no reason for the peso to be that weak," a dealer at an Asian bank said. "There was a lot of onshore corporate buying of dollars for debt repayment and trading purposes," he said.
"It was more of a supply/demand situation than anything to do with the political situation there," he added.
The New Taiwan dollar declined in the wake of foreign outflows from the local stock market.
The U.S. dollar ended at NT$30.839, up from NT$30.814 Wednesday.
Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.77 billion worth of Taiwan shares Thursday. Taiwan shares closed down 132.35 points, or 1.6 percent, at 8,289.39 points, in line with the overnight losses on Nasdaq.
The Thai baht was bounced around in a day of volatile trading, finishing the session lower against the dollar. Late Thursday, the dollar was quoted at 39.545 baht, up from 39.515 baht a day earlier.
The dollar jumped to 39.680 baht in intraday trading after an English-language media report misquoted a central banker as saying the baht would "slip further."
According to the Thai-language media, the official actually said the baht was simply suffering from the weaker rupiah, and he offered no projection for the currency.
The won ended flat amid a slight easing of market worries over a planned strike next week by local bank employees, traders said. The dollar closed at 1,117.20 won, unchanged from Wednesday's close.
The Singapore dollar was slightly higher, in step with the upward move in the rupiah.
Late Thursday, the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7361, compared with S$1.7367 a day earlier.
The U.S. currency briefly rose above last week's high of S$1.7380. However, the Singapore dollar rebounded when the rupiah began turning around, dealers said.