Most Asian currencies fell on Wednesday, with the Philippine peso hitting a nine-month low, on fears that inflationary pressures in the region would significantly affect economic growth. Currencies also weakened as the US dollar inched up against the yen and sterling, supported by data showing US factory activity unexpectedly expanded in June after four months of contraction.
But the South Korean won rebounded from a six-week low touched in early Wednesday trade, soaring 2 percent from that trough to a high of 1,035.75 per US dollar, following verbal and suspected dollar-selling intervention by Korean authorities to support the weak currency.
At least two traders said the authorities had sold around $3 billion to lift the flagging won, which followed comments by Korea's finance minister saying the central bank would "make more effort" to stabilise prices in the short term.
"The won's woes go well beyond oil, with government officials consistently airing their concerns over Korean domestic growth prospects and the new administration quickly losing favour with the public," strategist Sean Callow at Westpac Bank said in a note.
On Tuesday, data showed inflation in South Korea and Thailand was at its highest in a decade. The Thai baht also bucked the trend and rose by nearly a fifth of a percent to 33.375 per dollar, as markets in Thailand reopened after a one-day holiday. Data on Tuesday showed Thai inflation jumped to 8.9 percent in June. Traders said the central bank had not intervened in the session, but that authorities had supported the baht the day before in order to battle inflation.
Thailand's one-day repurchase rate has been held steady at 3.25 percent since last July, and analysts are expecting the central bank to raise the rate in the upcoming monetary policy meeting on July 16 in light of rising inflation.
The Philippine peso extended this week's losses and slid by 0.4 percent to 45.20 per dollar, its lowest since October 2007. The Philippine central bank said on Wednesday it expected annual inflation in June to come in between 10.4 percent and 11.2 percent, and anticipates double-digit inflation will decline after the third quarter.
The Malaysian ringgit fell by 0.3 percent to 3.28 per dollar. "The market is a bit jittery after foreign banks bought dollars," a trader in Kuala Lumpur said. Other currencies, such as the Indonesian rupiah, were rangebound as investors avoided risky bets ahead of monetary policy meetings in Indonesia and the euro zone.
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