Most Asia currencies close higher

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies were higher late Thursday, with the Philippine peso bucking the trend, underscoring yet again that there is only so much the central banks could do to counter the pressure from domesticpolitical woes, market watchers said. Like the peso, the Indonesian rupiah was also left out in the cold after it slumped to a 26-month low in London trading Wednesday.

The South Korean won, the New Taiwan dollar and the Singapore dollar were stronger. The Thai baht was steady.

Short of imposing capital controls, the central banks, especially those in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, seem rather helpless in preventing their currencies from being wounded by domestic political anxieties, some analysts said.

The Philippine authorities, for example, recently tightened its foreign exchange regulations and raised domestic interest rates sharply to defend its currency.

After stagnating for many sessions, the Indonesian currency threw many participants off guard after it skidded to a 26-month low of 9,675 rupiah against the dollar in London trading Wednesday.

The London offices of a Hong Kong and a U.S. bank were said to have bought dollars aggressively, which in turn fueled stop-loss buying in dollars when it pierced through Rp 9,600, dealers said.

Dollar-selling by Indonesian state banks, believed to have acted on behalf of the central bank, pushed the U.S. currency back below Rp 9,600.

Late Thursday, the dollar was at Rp 9,575, up from Rp 9,522 late Wednesday.

Currency watchers played down the attribution of the rupiah's renewed weakness to central bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin's return to office Wednesday, following his five month detention.

Instead, keen dollar demand by local corporations that need to repay their foreign debt had pushed the rupiah lower, they said.

Liquidation of long U.S. dollar positions, which had been built up recently, helped lift the Singapore dollar, the South Korean won and the New Taiwan dollar, dealers said.

Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. currency slid to S$1.7367 from S$1.7432 late Wednesday.

In Seoul, the dollar closed at 1,195.3 won, down from 1,200.9 won Wednesday.

Against the New Taiwan dollar, which was aided by central bank intervention, the U.S. dollar closed at NT$33.038, down from NT$33.065 Wednesday.

The Thai currency tracked the Singapore dollar's gains, strengthening to 43.405 baht against the dollar, from 43.685 baht late Wednesday.