Won, yen fall as other Asian monies mixed
Won, yen fall as other Asian monies mixed
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Support from state-run banks helped the South Korean won snap its string of six straight losing sessions on Thursday, while other Asian currencies were mixed in lackluster year-end activity.
The Singapore dollar, Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah weakened, and the New Taiwan dollar and Philippine peso strengthened.
In Europe, the yen fell to 16-month troughs against the dollar and 10-month lows against the euro for the third straight day on Thursday, amid pessimism over the Japanese economy and official tolerance of the currency's weakness.
Finance Ministry forex chief Haruhiko Kuroda said in Tokyo the yen's recent weakness was not wrong given the gap in growth between Japan and the United States and predicted further gains for the euro.
The dollar rose near to 114.60 yen and was trading at 114.44/49 at 0800 GMT, while the euro surged close to 106.70 yen, before easing to 106.43/53.
The Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea were among the institutions selling dollars at the request of the government, dealers said.
The dollar opened stronger against the won, hitting its intraday high of 1,260 won in the first hour of trading. The upward move was quickly reversed, however, after the state-run banks began dumping the U.S. currency, driving it down to 1,243 won before the noontime break.
The dollar edged back in afternoon trading, closing at 1,253 won, down from 1,258.5 won late Wednesday.
The Singapore dollar edged lower in thin trading, tracking declines in regional currencies.
Near the end of Asian trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.7314, up from S$1.7250 late Tuesday. Singapore financial markets were closed Wednesday for a public holiday.
The Indonesian rupiah slipped in light offshore trading. Financial markets in Jakarta were closed for a holiday.
Late in Asia, the dollar was quoted at Rp 9,505, up from Rp 9,420 late Wednesday.
In Taipei, the central bank once again bailed out the flagging New Taiwan dollar to help the currency finish in positive territory.
The central bank, which sold dollars throughout the day, came in aggressively near the end of trading after the U.S. currency hit an intraday high of NT$33.191.
The U.S. dollar closed at NT$33.159, down from NT$33.165 a day earlier.
The Philippine peso closed slightly stronger after trading in a narrow range against the U.S. dollar for most of the day.
The dollar touched an intraday high of 50.160 pesos in the morning before modest selling by exporters forced the U.S. currency lower, dealers said.
The dollar closed at 49.870 pesos, down from 49.910 pesos at Wednesday's finish.
Political uncertainty also weighed on the Thai baht, which fell to its lowest level in more than a week.
Late in Asia, the dollar was quoted at 43.605 baht, up from 42.405 baht late Wednesday.