Most Asian currencies lower, following weaker yen

Most Asian currencies lower, following weaker yen

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies were lower late
Friday in line with a decline in the yen, after the Bank of Japan
intervened once again in global currency markets to weaken the
Japanese currency.

The Singapore dollar, the Korean Won, the Indonesian rupiah
and the New Taiwan dollar all closed lower against the dollar,
while the Philippine peso bucked the trend, getting a moderate
lift from the gradual flow of remittances made by overseas
Filipino workers.

Market activity was fairly subdued ahead of the weekend, with
many traders reluctant to sell dollars due to widespread notions
the BOJ will continue to boost the U.S. currency with
intervention.

Some traders also remained sidelined due to concerns the U.S.
might launch a retaliatory strike in Afghanistan as part of its
quest to punish the perpetrators of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington.

A late afternoon spurt of selling by Japanese banks and Hong
Kong trading houses pushed the Singapore dollar lower.

The U.S. currency touched a high for the session at S$1.7675
before ending at S$1.7662, up from S$1.7613 late Thursday.

"There was some selling toward S$1.77 from some large Hong
Kong houses," one trader said.

He added that he expects the U.S. dollar to meet firm
resistance at that level in the coming sessions, with the
immediate trading range likely to fall between S$1.7580 and
S$1.77.

The Indonesian rupiah closed lower Friday as local companies
continued to buy dollars amid fears the U.S. unit could rise amid
growing anti-U.S. demonstrations.

The dollar closed Asian trade at Rp 9,710, its intraday high,
up from its close Thursday at Rp 9,685.

Around 2,000 Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta Friday to
protest possible U.S. retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan.

Local companies that need dollars for debt repayment or to
fund imports are worried the protests might turn violent and send
the dollar higher.

Until now, protests have remained peaceful.

But the U.S. State Department has warned its citizens against
travel to Indonesia and has allowed all nonessential embassy
staff to return home on reports of "credible threats" against
U.S. interests in the country.

Anti-U.S. sentiment could get worse if the U.S. makes strikes
against followers of Osama bin Laden, who the U.S. says was
behind the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The dollar's rise was slowed earlier Friday by selling of the
U.S. currency by the government's Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency, traders said.

Still, government intervention is unlikely to stop the dollar
bullish mood next week, they added. The dollar should trade
upward to test Rp 9,800 next week.

In Seoul, dollar demand from domestic banks and oil importers
keen to take care of their dollar needs ahead of a five-day
weekend pushed the won lower.

Korean financial markets will be closed Monday and Tuesday for
Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, and on Wednesday for National
Foundation Day.

The dollar finished at 1,309.6 won, up from Thursday's close
of 1,306.4 won.

The BOJ intervention appeared aimed at offsetting the effects
of Japanese corporations repatriating dollar-assets to improve
their balance sheets before closing their books at the Sept.30
fiscal half year end.

The dollar strengthened initially against the yen following
the BOJ intervention but later retreated to around 118.90 late in
the day, well off its 119.75 high.

Some participants speculated that any further BOJ attempts to
weaken the yen may meet with only limited success, as uncertainty
in global financial markets is likely to discourage Japanese
institutional investors from buying foreign assets.