Most Asian monies up against dollar
Most Asian monies up against dollar
SINGAPORE (AFP): Most Asian currencies ended higher against the U.S. dollar in quiet trade Friday despite the fall of the Japanese yen.
The Indonesian rupiah briefly rose to 8,000 levels against the dollar as investors unwound long positions on the greenback but fell later.
The rupiah rose to a high of 8,820 before pulling back to 9,025 to the U.S. dollar, but was still higher than its close here the day before of 9,210.
"The selling (of the dollar) is coming from Jakarta banks that were long on the dollar earlier this week," said a dealer with a European bank here.
In Jakarta, Bank Indonesia governor Sjahril Sabirin said there was no intervention from the bank Friday.
He said the rupiah's recovery was triggered by three factors -- fading fears of a yuan devaluation, implementation of banking recapitalization and parliament's approval of political bills.
The bills cleared the way for polls in June, the first general election since the fall of former president Soeharto in May 1998.
Other Asian currencies that closed slightly higher were the Thai baht at 36.75 from 36.85, while the Philippine peso ended at 38.50 from 38.59, and the Taiwan dollar at 32.300 from 32.310.
The Singapore dollar fell to 1.6904 to the greenback from 1.6888 the day before, and the South Korean won dipped slightly to 1,175 from 1,174.30.
The yen closed here at 116.30, down from its finish here Thursday of 115.33, although it was marginally higher from its close of 116.38 in New York.
Dealers here said the yen traded weakly following overnight gains by the dollar on a report from the US Commerce Department on Thursday.
The US report noted that durable goods orders jumped 1.9 percent in December, well above market expectations.
Durable goods orders are considered a key indicator of future economic growth.
Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs Eisuke Sakakibara said Japan's financial crisis is at an end and will touch bottom by mid-1999, but that the economy will take some time to recover.
Sakakibara, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, said monetary authorities would intervene if the yen strengthened too much.