Rupiah slightly weaker over domestic concerns
Rupiah slightly weaker over domestic concerns
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Most Asian currencies were higher late
Monday, as the yen's rebound and easing domestic uncertainties in
some countries provided a breathing spell for the markets,
dealers said.
Bucking the trend, the Indonesian rupiah and the Singapore
dollar were slightly weaker.
Local corporate dollar demand and intensifying pressure on
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to step down - as
thousands of student protesters marched through the streets,
demanding the Indonesian leader quit over two corruption scandals
- weighed on the rupiah, dealers said.
But the central bank's latest foreign exchange regulations to
curb speculative trading succeeded in cushioning the rupiah's
fall, as the currency has been dropped off most offshore
investors' radar screens, dealers added.
"I don't think you can do any more trading in the rupiah
offshore," said a dealer at a European bank. "The central bank is
pretty serious about its latest curbs and they just want to stop
the offshore market from trading."
The central bank was reportedly meeting foreign banks in
Jakarta Monday to clarify the latest foreign exchange measures.
The measures, which included a ban on rupiah lending, has
created confusion and settlement problems, and effectively killed
the offshore rupiah market.
After rising to an intraday high of Rp 9,475, the dollar
closed at Rp 9,450, up from Rp 9,440 at Friday's close.
In the largest protest against Gus Dur, as the President is
more popularly called, police fired tear gas and warning shots as
thousands of rock-throwing student demonstrators stormed the
gates of Indonesia's parliament, where legislators convened to
hear the results of a long-running investigation into two
multimillion dollar corruption scandals.
Many say there is sufficient evidence to implicate Gus Dur in
both scandals despite the president's repeated denials of
wrongdoing. It is far from certain, though, whether the
parliament will pursue the case and initiate lengthy impeachment
proceedings.
Gus Dur's popular deputy, Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party
controls the most seats in legislature and who is the president's
most likely successor, seemed to play down the likelihood of
impeachment.
"Even if acquitted, investors remain concerned about the
fragile state of relations with separatist-inclined provinces,"
ABN AMRO Bank said in its weekly report. "External debt service
payments are expected to come to around $26 billion in 2001." - -
The Singapore dollar weakened amid market speculation that the
local monetary authority might revert to a neutral policy stance
next month, from the current tightening bias.
The Singapore dollar weakened amid market speculation that the
local monetary authority might revert to a neutral policy stance
next month, from the current tightening bias.
But the U.S. dollar continued to find difficulty in piercing
above the psychologically important S$1.7500 level as the
Japanese yen and Thai baht gained ground, dealers said.
DBS Bank, however, said the authority will likely limit the
Singapore dollar's weakness at S$1.7600 to S$1.7620.
The Thai currency, which also found support from the yen's
late rebound, strengthened to 42.635 baht, from 42.840 baht late
Friday.
Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. currency closed at
NT$32.525, down from its previous close of NT$32.564, with the
central bank intervening to slow the local currency's
appreciation. Taiwan's market was closed last week due to the
Lunar New Year holidays.
In Seoul, the dollar finished at 1,267.1 won, down from
1,280.3 won Friday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was quoted at Y116.40,
below Y117.32 late Friday in New York, and Y116.67 late Friday in
Tokyo.