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.