The Singapore dollar was the only Asian regional currency to gain against the US dollar on Tuesday, recovering from a one-month low hit in early trade as investors sensed it may have weakened too much recently.
Other currencies remained soft even as the Japanese yen recovered towards Monday's two-month highs after its fall against the dollar in New York.
The Singapore dollar fell as low as 1.7237 per US dollar last traded on May 19, before jumping back through the 1.7200 level. It was around 1.7175 in late afternoon trade.
Dealers said some foreign funds and investment banks were spotted buying Singapore dollars after the early losses.
"The Singapore dollar has remained quite weak on a trade-weighted basis, so it's not surprisingly that it's finally catching up a bit," said Sameer Goel, currency strategist at the Bank of America in Singapore.
Goel said despite strong domestic economic fundamentals and a string of surprisingly robust data, the Singapore dollar had lost more ground than most of its peers in recent weeks.
James Malcolm, currency strategist at J.P. Morgan Chase in Singapore, said short Singapore dollar positions were closed out after the market estimated that dollar/Sing had pushed to the weaker side of an undisclosed trade-weighted policy band.
On April 12 the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which uses the trade-weighted currency as a policy tool rather than interest rates, had said it would permit a gradual strengthening in the currency. That saw the Singapore dollar rally to a high of $1.6603 per dollar on April 13, its strongest since January 2000. But since then the Singapore dollar has weakened against the US dollar despite the MAS's policy bias. Dealers said short Sing dollar positions were over-stretched and players were now looking to book profits on the trade.
Regional currencies have been dogged by worries over US interest rates, a slowing Chinese economy and oil prices. Markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
The US Federal Reserve holds a policy meeting on June 29 and 30 and is widely expected to start raising rates, which could make US assets more attractive to investors.
Oil prices have fallen recently after hitting two-decade highs earlier this month, but were still above $35 a barrel.
Fears of another spike in oil amid tension in the Middle East and the expected US rate rises have also hurt the attractiveness of Asian stock markets.
A near two percent fall in South Korea's benchmark stock index early on Tuesday pulled the won down to as low as 1,158.5 to a dollar. Korean stocks pared some early losses, but the won stayed depressed.
The Thai baht was back down to levels just shy of a nine month low of 41.02 hit last week, and the Indonesian rupiah traded on the weaker side of 9,400 a dollar.
The Philippine peso was down, but above last week's record low, as markets pondered the outlook after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was declared winner of the presidential vote with a thin majority and amid allegations of cheating.
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