The Indian rupee fell on Thursday after voter exit polls suggested the country could be heading for a weaker coalition government, while the Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso suffered from profit taking after their recent rallies.
Falling stock markets also encouraged investors to take profits from the recent rally in Asian currencies after the bleak US retail sales data and Bank of England's cautious outlook on Britain's economy dampened hopes of a swift global recovery. The Indian rupee fell 0.6 percent to 50.02 per dollar, its lowest in more than two weeks, as voter exit polls showed the ruling Congress-led coalition leading the opposition alliance, but lacking a majority.
RUPIAH The Indonesian rupiah lost 1 percent to 10,445 per dollar as investors took profits from its recent rally. "I think the rupiah is making a healthy correction. The overall view is that rupiah will strengthen," said a Jakarta-based trader.
But one-year offshore dollar/rupiah NDFs moved higher and priced in a 9 percent rupiah fall from the spot. Spreads between one-year NDFs and onshore forwards widened slightly to 240 points from 215 points a day earlier.
WON The South Korean won slid 1.8 percent to hit its weakest in more than a week against the dollar on Thursday as weak US retail sales data damped appetites for riskier assets including Seoul shares. The local currency was expected to fall further with investors seen likely to chase safer assets on emerging doubts about the pace of global economic recovery, analysts said.
"The won may head to 1,300 (per dollar) as it faces strong resistance at 1,230. Investors are looking for chances to book profits from risks realising that they had bet too much on recovery hopes," said Jeong My-young, a currency strategist at Samsung Futures Inc. The South Korean unit was quoted at 1,266.9/7.3 per dollar as, compared with Wednesday's domestic close of 1,244.0.
PESO The Philippine peso fell 0.9 percent to 47.79 per dollar. Dollar/peso is bought up mainly on unwinding of risk trades," said a Manila-based dealer, who expected the pair to test the 47.90-48.00 levels in the near term. One-year offshore dollar/peso NDFs moved up to 48.94, implying a 3 percent peso fall from the spot compared to 4 percent on Wednesday. Spreads between one-year offshore NDFs and onshore forwards narrowed slightly with the latter edging up to 48.566.
Comments
Comments are closed.