Rupiah rebounds from 10-week low
Rupiah rebounds from 10-week low
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The Indonesian rupiah bounced back from its 10-week low to close flat Friday as market participants took profit on the U.S. dollar ahead of the weekend, dealers said.
After falling to a 10-week low of Rp 9,035 per dollar earlier in the day, the rupiah closed at Rp 8,922, unchanged from its close late Thursday in Asia.
The rupiah fell at its opening, taking a lead from the continued slide in the Philippine peso, dealers said.
"Most participants took profit shortly after the dollar rose above Rp 9,000 as they have built long dollar positions over the last three days," said a dealer with a foreign bank.
Dealers said they didn't detect any intervention from the central bank Friday to help the rupiah.
Bank Indonesia's Deputy Governor Achjar Iljas said Friday that the central bank won't intervene unless it's convinced such a move will be effective.
Dealers said that the dollar will go back to above Rp 9,000 level next week as long as the peso and other regional currencies continue to weaken.
Meanwhile, an escalation of violence in the Middle East rocked global equity markets, ignited a savage oil price rally, and drove all Asian currencies lower.
The Philippine peso led the decliners again, falling for a fifth straight session on a deepening political scandal surrounding allegations President Joseph Estrada received millions of dollars in payoffs from illegal gambling operators.
Although the peso ended the week at Thursday's all-time intraday low against the dollar of 48.500 pesos, the rate hike has at least stabilized the currency, which has fallen 6 percent during the past four weeks, and 17 percent so far this year.
Rising crude prices also hurt the peso.
The Philippines like most Asian economies - including South Korea, Thailand and India - is heavily dependent on oil imports for its energy needs.
The dollar ended at 48.500 pesos, up from 47.700 pesos at Thursday's close.
The Singapore dollar was weaker despite apparent intervention early in the day by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to support the local dollar.
The U.S. dollar late was at S$1.7550, up from S$1.7523 a day earlier.
Meanwhile, Bank of Thailand acknowledged for the first time there are signs of speculation against the baht in the foreign exchange market, activity that as a general rule might prompt a central bank to intervene.
Chetthavee Charoenpitaks, assistant central bank governor, told reporters the Bank is closely monitoring movements in the market, but declined to comment on whether the central bank plans to intervene to support the baht.
The baht hit a 28-month low Friday of 43.68 baht against the dollar, and late in the session was at 43.580 baht, down from 43.295 baht.
In North Asia, the Korean won sank as local stock prices slumped 1.9 percent.
The dollar ended trade in Seoul at 1,128.5 won, up from 1,122.10 won late Thursday. While in Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar dropped sharply to finish the week at NT$31.650 against the U.S. currency, down from NT$31.300 a day earlier.