Rupiah unchanged despite Paris Club agreement
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The South Korean won tumbled under the weight of a stock market sell-off Friday, while the Singapore dollar spiked up on reports of intervention by local monetary authorities.
The Indonesian rupiah remained in relatively good shape but almost unchanged one day after the government reached an agreement with the Paris Club group of creditor nations to reschedule $5.8 billion worth of sovereign debt.
The debt rescheduling, almost US$2.2 billion of which is slated to take place this year, is contingent upon the successful completion of an International Monetary Fund review by June 5 at the latest, an IMF official said.
The IMF is optimistic it can resume lending to Indonesia by late-May, after delaying its latest $400 million loan disbursement over Indonesia 's failure to keep pace with its reform program.
At the close of trading in Jakarta, the dollar was at Rp 7,623, up from Rp 7,600 late Thursday.
Elsewhere in the region, currencies were lower in light trading. South Korea's Kospi index plunged 4.7 percent Friday as stocks across Asia moved lower in the wake of Wall Street's recent downturn.
The won fell to its lowest level in more than a week as foreign investors pulled their money out of stocks, dealers said.
Opinion was divided over what impact Thursday's general elections in South Korea would have on the market. Some analysts said the ruling party's failure to secure a majority could potentially slow the pace of reform in corporate restructuring.
Others, however, said the fallout would be minimal.
Late Friday, the dollar was quoted at 1,111.00 won, up from 1,108.00 won Thursday.
The Singapore dollar jumped to its highest level in nearly two weeks, continuing a rally that began Thursday. A number of dealers said they believed the Monetary Authority of Singapore got things started by entering the market and selling dollars at about the S$1.7195 level Thursday.
Players who had taken long U.S. dollar positions were forced to unload the currency, pushing it to an intraday low of S$1.7108 Friday. That was the lowest level since it was S$1.7103 on April 3.
"I doubt anyone will go long with the U.S. dollar now," a dealer at a foreign bank said. "The MAS is sending a message."
By the close, the U.S. currency moved to S$1.7115, down from S$1.7152 late Thursday.
Some analysts said the timing of the supposed MAS intervention was puzzling, since the Singapore dollar didn't appear to be unusually soft.
But there also was speculation that the MAS did it as a preemptive move to head off what it may have perceived as a trend toward a weaker Singapore dollar. The timing was calculated, the theory goes, to take advantage of the long U.S. dollar positions.
The New Taiwan dollar also felt the pressure of declining share prices. The island's main index fell 2.98%, and has now dropped 7.4 percent over the past four sessions.
Dealers also said sentiment toward Taiwan stocks and the currency are still being negatively affected by tensions with mainland China.
Late in Asia, the U.S dollar was quoted at NT$30.461, up from NT$30.380 at the end of the previous session.
The Philippine peso moved lower in thin trading amid corporate demand for U.S. dollars. Declines were limited, however, following a favorable assessment of the Philippine economy by the IMF.
The fund said Thursday it was confident that the Philippines will be able to meet its growth target of four to five percent this year and set the stage for "rapid growth" in the next five years.
The dollar was quoted at 41.168 pesos at the close of trading, up from 41.155 the previous session.
The Thai baht lost some ground in light offshore trading as markets in Bangkok were closed for a public holiday. Dealers said the baht selling was typical before a weekend.
The dollar closed at 37.965 baht, up from 37.900 baht late Thursday.