Won gets boost from Hyundai plans
Won gets boost from Hyundai plans
HONG KONG (Dow Jones): Signs the Hyundai Group may soon release its restructuring plans boosted the Korean won Wednesday.
The U.S. dollar was trading mostly lower against major Southeast Asian currencies on hopes for a soft landing in the U.S. economy and steady policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
It was up slightly against the Indonesian rupiah, but off against the Thai baht, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar.
Pieter van der Schaft, economist with Barclays Capital, said the won may also benefit from talk that the Bank of Japan will end its 18-month zero-interest rates policy when it meets Friday, although that has yet to have much impact on the yen.
The Hyundai hopes emerged early on local reports that South Korean President Kim Dae-jung ordered the government to resolve the Hyundai Group's liquidity problems by this week.
A presidential spokesman denied Kim had set the deadline for this week, but hopes remained that Hyundai and its creditor banks will soon push through Hyundai's reform plan.
The dollar finished at 1,115.00 won, down from Tuesday's close of 1,115.90 won and 1,117.30 late Monday.
Overall, Asian currency trading was quiet, however, with the National Day holiday in Singapore sapping much the market's trading energies.
Van der Schaft at Barclays said Southeast Asian currencies clearly continued to benefit from the relative strength of the Indonesian rupiah.
The U.S. dollar was trading at Rp 8,588, up just slightly from Rp 8,573 late Tuesday and after reaching as low as Rp 8,560 earlier. Singapore dealers said last session that the Rp 8,500 level is a good level to buy U.S. dollars and many still contend that the rupiah isn't yet out of the woods.
Investors in rupiah are cheered, however, as Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid proceeds relatively unscathed through the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Wednesday, Indonesia's parliament speaker said he backed moves for Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take over control of the government if President Abdurrahman Wahid focuses more on foreign policy.
Wahid said in a speech Tuesday that he will focus his energies on foreign relations.
Hopes for a soft landing in the U.S. economy - fueled by last week's benign jobs numbers for July - and that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold rates steady when it meets Aug. 22, also bolstered Asian currencies Wednesday, said van der Schaft.
The U.S. dollar was quoted at 40.915 baht, down from 41.11 late Tuesday.
The dollar closed at 44.840 on the Philippine Dealing System, down from 44.875 pesos at the previous close.
Against the Singapore dollar the U.S. currency was quoted at 1.7215, down from 1.7260 late Tuesday and compared with the Taiwanese dollar it was quoted at NT$31.09, little changed.