SINGAPORE, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The South Korean won lost a
further 2 percent against the dollar and the Indonesian rupiah
tumbled on Thursday as troubles in the U.S. financial sector
depressed risk appetite.
Concerns over Lehman Brothers' ability to raise capital and
the broader anxiety about global growth pushed the dollar to a
one-year high against the euro <EUR=> and weighed on
high-yielders such as the Australian dollar <AUD=>.
The rupiah <IDR=> fell more than 1 percent to 9,475 per
dollar, its weakest since late January. Traders said Bank
Indonesia had intervened, selling dollars.
"It is pretty much a risk aversion move, on the back of the
U.S. financial sector stress," JPMorgan analyst Yen Ping Ho said,
while adding that emerging market high-yielders were feeling the
stress of this drop in risk appetite.
The won fell to levels close to 1,114 per dollar, hurt by
foreigners' continued selling of Korean equities and despite
suspected intervention by the authorities.
Before the local South Korean market opened, Vice Finance
Minister Bae Kook-hwan said authorities would intervene when
speculators unsettle dealings in the currency.
Traders said a decision by the Bank of Korea to leave
interest rates steady at 5.25 percent -- a seven-year high -- did
not impact the won.
The Taiwan dollar <TWD=TP> was another big loser as traders
positioned for the currency to underperform against its peers
after its trade account swung to a deficit and owing to foreign
portfolio outflows.
It fell nearly half a percent to a seven-month low on the
weaker side of 32 per U.S. dollar.
"We remain long USD/TWD as the most straightforward long
dollar in Asia," Lehman Brothers said in a note.
"A break of the psychologically important 32.0 on spot will
open up 32.5 in the minds of the markets."
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0549 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 107.34 107.68 +0.32
Sing dlr 1.4398 1.4391 -0.05
Taiwan dlr 32.015 31.863 -0.47
Korean won 1109.40 1091.25 -1.64
Baht 34.67 34.60 -0.20
Peso 47.06 46.95 -0.23
Rupiah 9435.00 9325.00 -1.17
Rupee 45.40 45.10 -0.66
Ringgit 3.4670 3.4570 -0.29
Yuan 6.8443 6.8385 -0.08
Change so far in 2008
Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move
Japan yen 107.34 111.33 +3.72
Sing dlr 1.4398 1.4382 -0.11
Taiwan dlr 32.015 32.443 +1.34
Korean won 1109.40 935.70 -15.66
Baht 34.67 33.68 -2.86
Peso 47.06 41.28 -12.28
Rupiah 9435.00 9390.00 -0.48
Rupee 45.40 39.41 -13.19
Ringgit 3.4670 3.3050 -4.67
Yuan 6.8443 7.3041 +6.72
(Reporting by Vidya Ranganathan; editing by Neil Fullick)
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Double click on brackets for following items:
Asian currencies <AFX=> Asian currencies in Asia <AFX=A>
Malaysian ringgit <MYRX=> Indonesian rupiah <IDRX=>
Singapore dollar <SGDX=> Thai baht <THBX=>
Taiwan dollar <TWDX=> Hong Kong dollar <HKDX=>
Philippine peso <PHP=> Korean won <KRW=>
SPEED GUIDES <MONEY> <ASEAN=>
Exotic currencies <EXOTIC/1> Non-G7 currencies <CCY/1>
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