Most Asian currencies fall

Asian currencies mostly fell on Thursday in the face of broad strength in the dollar and continuing fears of high oil prices, with the Philippine peso hitting a seven-month low even as the central bank intervened.
The Philippine peso hit a seven-month low at 43.925 per dollar, down about half of a percent from Wednesday's close, as investors bought dollars after solid US durable goods data on Wednesday eased concerns over the US economy. But intervention by the central bank to sell dollars helped limit the peso's further declines, traders said. "They (the central bank) were in the market this morning. I guess they sold the dollar at 43.85 and then at 43.90," said a trader in Manila.
"I think the market is trying to target the 44 level, but the central bank does not want the peso to depreciate that fast and was trying to slow it down," he said. Some traders estimated the size of the intervention at $150 million. The peso, one of the laggards in the region, has lost almost 5.9 percent so far this year as investors sell risky assets amid persistent jitters of high oil prices.
Central banks in South Korean, Indonesia and Taiwan had also been spotted intervening this week to prop up their currencies for fear further weakness could fuel inflationary risks. The Indonesian rupiah fell as low as 9,335 per dollar, down about 0.4 percent from late trade on Wednesday, over concerns about the impact of high oil prices on its import bill.
"It's still on corporate demand and oil demand - that's why the rupiah has weakened a bit," said a trader in Jakarta. Oil prices slipped below $131 per barrel on Thursday after rebounding more than $2 on Wednesday.
The Thai baht fell as far as 32.48 per dollar, down about 0.7 percent from late Asian trade on Wednesday to its weakest level since May 15. "I think the main factor is the political problem. Investors are still afraid of a coup and are buying dollars," said a trader in Bangkok.
Recent street protests in Thailand have called into question the ability of the government to hold onto power. The Korean won rose as high as 1,026.8 against the dollar, the highest since May 8, building on gains in the prior two sessions after the central bank intervened on Monday to prevent it from sliding further and a finance ministry official said on Wednesday it needed to focus on fighting inflation.
"Fundamentally, we retain a weak won view in light of the current account deficit and the external oil shock to inflation and the balance of payments, while the Bank of Korea also appears biased to ease despite rising inflation," J.P. Morgan strategists Claudio Piron and Yen Ping Ho said in a note.
The Chinese yuan hit a fresh post-revaluation high of 6.9350 against the dollar, after the central bank set a stronger mid-point than the previous day's close. The yuan has gained 5.3 percent versus the dollar so far this year as the Chinese authorities continue to let the currency rise steadily to help tackle inflation. Investors expect the yuan to gain around 10 percent in 2008.