Asian currencies

The Indonesian rupiah fell to a new 3-1/2-year low on Thursday, hit by dollar demand from local companies hedging against record high oil prices and to repay overseas debt, but government dollar sales helped curb losses.
The South Korean won and the Singapore dollar edged higher as surprising weakness in US durable goods orders for July hurt the dollar against the yen and euro
But the Taiwan dollar set an eight-month low at 32.30 per dollar - hit by declining current account surpluses and a selloff in stocks by foreign investors. The currency ended the day at 32.29, little changed from Wednesday.
The rupiah hit a new low of 10,430 per dollar by midday but recovered some of those losses to trade at 10,320, thanks to dollar sales by the central bank and state banks, Jakarta currency dealers said.
The currency has lost 6 percent this month and is down 10 percent this year, making it Asia's worst performing currency.
"The whole market is buying dollars. Only the state banks and the central bank are selling," the dealer said.
The International Monetary Fund and several analysts said the authorities had little choice other than cutting fuel subsidies to reduce its budget deficit, and lifting interest rates to check inflationary expectations.
"In the absence of a credible policy response, however, the risks for the rupiah would continue to be weighed towards further exchange rate weakness," Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said in a note.
Swiss bank UBS said in its report the rupiah may decline to 10,400 per dollar in a month before stabilising at 10,300 in the following two months.
Surging oil prices have led to higher demand for dollars from state-oil company Pertamina, fuelled inflationary pressures and dampened the country's growth outlook.
New York benchmark crude oil futures advanced to a new high of $68 a barrel on Thursday, worsening Indonesia's balance of payments, while a selloff in the local stock and bond markets further hurt sentiment for the rupiah.
The stock market provided some respite on Thursday, with Indonesia's benchmark stock index rising 1.7 percent, after a 12 percent plunge in the previous three weeks.
The South Korean won gained a third of a percent to 1,024.3, recovering from a four-week low of 1,031.8 hit in early trade. The Singapore dollar gained a quarter of a percent to 1.6705 a dollar, recovering from a one-month low hit on Wednesday.
The two currencies got some support from renewed expectations that China may let its currency, the yuan, appreciate in the run up to President Hu Jintao's first visit to the United States since he became president in 2003. Hu is due to meet President George W. Bush on September 7.
Analysts said oil continued to weigh on the outlook for Asian economies, keeping a lid on further gains in their currencies.