Most Asian monies up, Singapore dollar soars
Most Asian monies up, Singapore dollar soars
Alan Yonan Jr., Dow Jones, Singapore
Most Asian currencies continued to rally Friday as global
sentiment toward the dollar was damped by concerns over the U.S.
economic recovery and disappointing corporate earnings.
The yen set the tone for the region, trading below Y129 per
dollar for the second day in a row.
The Singapore dollar was among the stronger regional
currencies in Asia, breaking through key resistance levels on its
way to a six-month high.
The Singapore dollar powered its way through the
psychologically important threshold of S$1.8100 per U.S. dollar
on its way to an intraday low of S$1.8070. It was the U.S.
dollar's poorest showing since last October.
The U.S. dollar recovered somewhat to finish Asian trading at
S$1.8097, down from S$1.8120 late Thursday.
The New Taiwan dollar, Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah
also gained on the dollar. The South Korean won was unchanged and
the Thai baht edged lower.
Most of the currencies remained near multi-month highs against
the dollar reached earlier in the week following a round of
weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data.
The disappointing U.S. data, along with continuing negative
corporate news and concerns about the sustainability of the
enormous U.S. current account deficit, are likely to keep
pressure on the dollar in the near term, analysts say.
An increasingly rosy outlook for the Singapore economy this
year compared with more modest expectations for the U.S. are
working in the local currency's favor, dealers say.
However, it will be difficult for the Singapore dollar to
appreciate significantly going forward, analyst say. Recent moves
in the Singapore dollar have probably resulted in its shift to
the stronger half of a trading band used by the Monetary
Authority of Singapore to guide the currency.
Any further movement toward the band's limit could prompt the
MAS to intervene in the market to cap the Singapore dollar's
strength, analysts said.
There was some speculation in the market Friday that the MAS
may have intervened, but many analysts dismissed this.
The New Taiwan dollar closed at a four-month high as the yen's
rise inspired U.S. dollar selling by Taiwanese exporters.
The U.S. dollar closed at NT$34.769, compared with NT$34.783
Thursday.
Offshore and local banks' short-covering of U.S. dollar
positions and central bank intervention combined to lift the U.S.
currency from its intraday low of NT$34.741.
In Seoul, a mix of offsetting factors left the won unchanged
from its four-month high a day earlier. The dollar closed at
1,297.6 won.
Foreigners' net sales of 279 billion won in local shares
convinced some foreign exchange players to build long-dollar
positions. But the rising yen prompted others to shed the U.S.
currency.
In addition, exporters sold dollars as part of their regular
month-end book balancing.
With no fresh leads to drive peso trading, the Philippine
currency tracked the yen and other regionals higher.
The dollar closed at 50.823 pesos on the Philippine Dealing
System, down from 50.835 pesos Thursday.
The rupiah strengthened modestly as sentiment continues to
improve toward Indonesia's debt restructuring efforts.
Late in Asia the dollar was quoted at Rp 9,300, down from Rp
9,360 a day earlier.
Moody's Investor Services raised Indonesia's sovereign outlook
to positive from stable this week due to the country's successful
$5.4 billion debt rescheduling with the Paris Club of creditors
earlier this month.
Corporate demand and dollar short-covering kept the U.S.
currency firm against the baht.
Near the end of Asian trading the dollar was quoted at 43.260
baht, up from 43.210 baht late Thursday.