Won, Taiwan dollar continue falling, rupiah unchanged

Won, Taiwan dollar continue falling, rupiah unchanged

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The South Korean won and the New Taiwan
dollar extended their falls late Monday on domestic and
international pressures, while other Southeast Asian currencies
staged a mixed performance.

"It's pretty much an established downtrend for the Taiwan
dollar and the Korean won," said Chi Lo, a senior economist at
Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

The Indonesian rupiah closed flat Monday as local companies'
dollar-demand and continued worries over separatist related
violence offset offshore profit-taking, traders said.

The dollar closed at 9,520 rupiah, unchanged from its closing
level in Asia Friday.

Offshore dollar-selling set in since the pair were unable to
break their year-high of Rp 9,580 last week.

But traders said dollar demand is still strong as corporations
seek the U.S. currency to service their debt before the yearend.

Disturbances in Aceh Monday - where local separatists were
marking the 24th anniversary of their unilateral declaration of
independence from Indonesia - also helped keep a dollar on a bid
tone.

Police tore down separatist flags Monday, while rebels from
the Free Aceh Movement attacked Indonesian military outposts.
Investors are concerned separatist pressure could pull
Indonesia's 30 provinces apart.

Plans to decentralize power to the provinces from next year
have worried many investors and the International Monetary Fund
which began a one-week mission to review the country's economy
Monday.

The IMF is concerned Jakarta hasn't yet drawn up strict enough
guidelines to make sure the provinces don't use their new found
powers to increase borrowing, adding to an already burgeoning
public debt.

Foreign equity fund outflows pressured the currencies of South
Korea and Taiwan, although intervention by the Taiwanese central
bank earlier in the day cushioned the impact on the latter,
dealers said.

The dollar was at 1,216.70 won, up from Friday's close of
1,209.50 won.

Against the New Taiwan dollar, the U.S. currency rose to a 20-
month high of NT$33.071, from the previous close of NT$32.995,
after the central bank withdrew its support for the local dollar
late in the day, dealers said.

Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. dollar rebounded to
S$1.7525, after pulling back to as low as S$1.7475 earlier in the
day. Late Friday, the U.S. dollar was at S$1.7521.

While the Singapore dollar's early rebound had prompted some
dealers to say the U.S. dollar may have found a short-term top at
around S$1.7600, UBS Warburg's currency strategist, Mansoor Mohi-
uddin, said the Singapore dollar remains vulnerable to potential
further weakness in the yen.

In the Thai currency market, the dollar edged up slightly to
43.850 baht, from 43.790 baht late Friday. The baht was largely
steady earlier in the day.

The banning of same-day cash sales between onshore and
offshore counterparties without any commercial purpose has made
the market more cautious of shorting the baht for now, noted UBS
Warburg's Mohi-uddin.

But he added that the baht's respite will likely be transient
amid political uncertainties ahead of Thailand's general
elections early next year.

In Manila, the dollar edged up to 49.470 pesos, from Friday's
close of 49.460 pesos.