Regional currencies creep up marginally

Regional currencies creep up marginally

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Southeast Asian currencies are mostly steady to slightly higher against the U.S. dollar in late Asian trading yesterday on low to moderate volumes.

With most market players already long on the dollar against the regionals and the yen gaining some ground against the dollar and the Deutsche mark, most Asian currencies crept up marginally in intraday dealings, said dealers.

Comments Thursday from Japan's Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs, Eisuke Sakakibara, boosted the yen in Asian dealings. He said Japanese investors should take profits on any gains they have made on foreign currency transactions against the yen, adding that he was closely watching the mark-yen currency movements.

The yen strength spilled over into the Asian currencies Thursday, but to varying degrees, said dealers. However, they emphasized that the longer-term sentiment on Asian currencies was still negative.

The U.S. dollar stayed between S$1.7650 and S$1.7750 amid strong two-way interest, said traders. The U.S. dollar is showing some consolidation at current levels after rising from S$1.75 earlier this month, they said.

"There are two opposing forces affecting the dollar-Sing (U.S. dollar against the Singapore dollar). Singapore proprietary traders want to buy the (U.S.) dollar below S$1.77 and that will give some good support," said Lee at MCM International.

"Above S$1.7700, there are big corporate orders to sell the (U.S.) dollar at S$1.7750. The dollar-Sing will be kept between these two forces for now," he said.

In a late trade, the U.S. dollar is at S$1.7645, down from S$1.7720 in early trading and from S$1.7741 late Wednesday.

Against the Malaysian ringgit, the U.S. dollar rose in early trading but subsequently fell in later dealings. The movement was largely driven by interbank players out of Singapore, said traders.

The dollar was quoted at 4.2037 ringgit, down from the opening of about 4.2150 ringgit but slightly higher from 4.1950 ringgit in late Thursday dealings.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso closed slightly higher against the dollar Thursday, buoyed by modest gains in the yen and relief that Russia's crisis hasn't been reflected in Asian currencies, said traders.

At the close, the dollar averaged 43.582 pesos on the Philippine Dealing System, down 5 centavos from 43.632 pesos at Wednesday's reference rate. The dollar was last traded at 43.610 pesos and reached a day-high of 43.625 pesos.

Elsewhere in the region the dollar held in range-bound dealings against the Thai baht and the Indonesian rupiah.

"The dollar is caught between 41.00 baht and 41.80 baht for the time being. There was a little bit of interest in baht swaps but it didn't amount to anything big," said a senior trader at a major Thai bank in Singapore.

In the offshore market, the dollar was quoted at 41.80 baht, marginally higher than 41.6250 baht late Wednesday.

The dollar was also quoted at 11,250 rupiah, higher than 11,063 rupiah late Wednesday.

In north Asia, pressure was off the Hong Kong dollar for most of Thursday and it is nearly flat from Wednesday's level, after rising steadily off a weak opening.

In late trading, the Hong Kong dollar was quoted at HK$7.7460 against the U.S. dollar, marginally stronger than HK$7.7461 quoted late Wednesday.

In Taiwan, the New Taiwan dollar rose slightly against the U.S. dollar Thursday for the third straight session as the central bank sold US$50 million to support the local currency, said foreign exchange traders.

The U.S. dollar ended lower at NT$34.792, from NT$34.802 on Tuesday.