Most Asian currencies up late
Most Asian currencies up late
Alan Yonan Jr., Singapore, Dow Jones
Most Asian currencies strengthened modestly Wednesday, as many paying little heed to the dollar's rebound against the yen during the session.
Only the South Korean won weakened as it succumbed to the yen's decline and amid foreign outflows from the local stock market.
The won gave up some of its gains from a day earlier when the South Korean currency had hit a three-month high against the dollar.
Foreign investors were net sellers of Korean stocks for the second day in a row, putting pressure on the local currency ahead of the proceeds being converted from won to dollars.
Foreigners sold a net 60.5 billion won of shares Wednesday, contributing to a 1.1 percent decline in the Korea Stock Exchange's main index.
Despite the "mild profit-taking" by foreign investors in the Korean stock market, the momentum of equity inflows indicated by a 10-day moving average remains supportive for the won, JP Morgan said in a research report.
The U.S. dollar closed at 1,307.0 won, up from 1,306.3 won a day earlier.
The yen's weakness weighed on the won after Japanese Finance Ministry officials repeated their concerns over the dollar's slide below the psychologically important 130 level yen.
The won's fall would have been greater if not for a hefty round of dollar selling by KorAm Bank. The bank sold $200 million as part of a foreign exchange hedging strategy ahead of its pricing of $200 million in global depository receipts Thursday, said Hyun-Jung Ryoo, KorAm's chief foreign exchange dealer.
The New Taiwan dollar continued to flex its muscle, hitting a fresh four-month closing high as exporters sold the U.S. currency.
However, most of the New Taiwan dollar's gains were eroded by the Taiwan central bank's last-minute intervention aimed at preventing the currency from appreciating too quickly.
The U.S. dollar closed at NT$34.808, down from NT$34.810 Tuesday. The U.S. currency had traded as low as NT$34.793 before the central bank intervened, buying about US$100 million.
The U.S. dollar also garnered some support from short-covering by interbank traders and U.S. dollar buying in overseas non- deliverable forwards markets.
The Indonesian rupiah continued to ride a wave of positive investor sentiment being generated by the country's progress on economic reforms and restructuring of its huge public debt.
Near the end of Asian trading the dollar was quoted at Rp 9,325, down from Rp 9,400 the previous session.
The dollar had traded as high as Rp 9,405 midway through the session, but fell victim to profit-taking. Key dollar support remains at Rp 9,200, dealers say.
The peso gained as exporters unloaded dollars and banks trimmed their excess dollar holdings after accumulating the U.S. currency over the past few days in response to bomb blasts in the southern part of the country.
The dollar closed at 50.895 pesos on the Philippine dealing system, down from 50.960 pesos a day earlier.
The Singapore dollar recovered from an early session decline to end the Asian session little changed.
Late in Asia the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.8190, compared with S$1.8187 late Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar's rise to an intraday high of S$1.8225 around midmorning prompted profit-taking by a local bank, sending the U.S. currency lower.
The baht traded weaker for most of the day in tandem with the softer yen. The dollar hit an intraday high of 43.560 baht in the afternoon session, but slipped near the close as the yen began to rebound.
Near the end of Asian trading the dollar was quoted at 43.295 baht, little changed from 43.290 baht a day earlier.