Southeast Asian currencies mixed against U.S. dollar

Southeast Asian currencies mixed against U.S. dollar

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Southeast Asian currencies were mixed
against the U.S. dollar in late trading on Friday, a suitable end
to a lackluster week of trading in the region, traders said.

The Thai baht did manage to edge up to a 58-week high Thursday
and the Singapore dollar fell sharply Friday, but "there wasn't
much movement overall, because of the Japanese and U.S. holidays
this week, and the fact that many traders and banks are on the
sideline for the remainder of the year," said Jean Wee, a
regional analyst for Sanwa Bank in Singapore. She said next week
should feature more of "the same kind of stability and a slight
decoupling from the (U.S.) dollar-yen."

Ryan Padgett, treasurer at Bank Brussels Lambert, said the big
question at the moment is, as usual, the health of the U.S.
economy.

For the moment, signs of a yen-decoupling already have been
seen, especially in the Thai baht, which managed to nip below 36
baht to the U.S dollar Thursday, for the first time in more than
a year. The market tried to push the U.S. dollar lower Friday,
but met firm resistance at 35.97 baht, traders said.

In a late Asian trading, the U.S. dollar was trading at 36.12
baht, well up from 36.02 baht late Thursday but down from 36.15
baht last Friday.

On the Philippines Dealing System, the U.S. dollar was trading
at 39.44 pesos, down from 36.49 pesos late Thursday and well down
from 39.61 pesos last week, as the news about foreign capital
inflows and economic performance was good.

The U.S. dollar was also trading at Rp 7,475, almost unchanged
from Rp 7,450 in late trading Thursday but lower than Rp 7,525
last Friday.

In Singapore, the currency had been given the same tight-range
prognosis by traders earlier this week, but the republic's dollar
seems inexorably linked to the fortunes of the yen.

Even when worrying domestic figures are released, the timing
of the release seems to be when the yen is embarking on another
slide against the U.S. dollar.

In late trading, the U.S. dollar was trading at S$1.6542, well
up from S$1.6462 late Thursday and significantly higher than last
Friday when the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.6290.

The U.S. dollar's ascent against the Singapore dollar Friday
was precipitated by the yen's fall and the release of domestic
financial sector figures, traders and economists said, showing
that Singapore banks had an aggregate exposure of S$35.8 billion
-- or 14.5 percent of total assets -- to Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines, as of Sept. 30,
according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

In North Asia, the U.S. dollar was trading at 32.422 new
Taiwan dollars, down from NT$32.482 late Thursday but above
NT$32.414 last Friday in late Asian trading. The U.S. dollar was
also trading at 1,241 won, up a touch from 1,240 won late
Thursday, but down from 1,261 won last Friday.

In late trading in Tokyo, the dollar was trading at 122.85-88
yen, up from 122.45-47 yen six hours earlier. The dollar traded
at 122.16 yen in London and 121.91-94 yen here late Thursday.