News on Abdurrahman boosts rupiah
News on Abdurrahman boosts rupiah
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Hopes that President Abdurrahman Wahid's ouster will bring a quick settlement to Indonesia's political crisis vaulted the rupiah to its highest finish against the dollar in more than four months Monday.
Spillover effects from the positive sentiment also helped the Singapore dollar and Thai baht strengthen. Elsewhere, the New Taiwan dollar edged higher, while the South Korean won and Philippine peso weakened.
Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly ended months of uncertainty late Monday afternoon, voting to remove Wahid and replace him with Vice President Soekarnoputri Megawati.
The rupiah rallied, rising as high as Rp 10,088 in intraday trade as the events in Indonesia's parliament unfolded. The rupiah dipped to around Rp 10,230 late in the Asian day, but was still about 9 percent higher from the close of Rp 11,150 Friday. It was the rupiah's strongest finish since the Rp 9,850 March 15.
The Singapore dollar tracked the Indonesian rupiah higher Monday.
Late in Asian trade the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.8240, down from S$1.8250 late Friday. It traded between S$1.8237 and S$1.8255 in Asia Monday.
The Singapore dollar and rupiah often move in tandem, and any negative news in Indonesia would usually weigh on the local dollar.
The Thai baht similarly got a lift from the developments in Indonesia.
Late in Asia the dollar was quoted at 45.746 baht, down from 45.775 baht late Friday.
In the Philippines, the peso was weighed down by strong corporate dollar demand in anticipation of further weakness in the local currency.
However, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's open support of the central bank's measures to curb currency speculation, which she declared during her first state-of-the-nation address late Monday, could cap the gains of the dollar in the coming session, traders said.
The dollar closed at a high of 53.40 pesos from 53.15 pesos at the close Friday.
Weakness in the Korean stock market and a softer yen pushed the won lower against the dollar Monday.
The dollar finished at 1,309.3 won, up from Friday's close of 1,305.6 won.
The dollar's rise to Y123.44 early Monday from Y122.96 Friday underpinned the dollar against the won.
The Kospi closed down 2.5 percent at a three-month low of 524.21 points Monday on growing pessimism over the global economy. Foreigners' net selling on the Kospi Monday amounted to 45.6 billion won.
The New Taiwan dollar was buoyed by exporter U.S. dollar sales.
The U.S. dollar ended at NT$34.893, compared with NT$34.961 Friday.
The local currency received a further boost from speculation that the president's economic development advisers think the New Taiwan dollar is undervalued, dealers said.
Inflows of foreign equity funds also helped the currency. Foreign investors Monday bought a net NT$792 million of shares on the main board.