Asian currencies: won rises

The South Korean won firmed on Friday as local exporters sold dollars, while regional peers moved in tight ranges as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of a US payrolls report. Investor sentiment remained wary even as Asian stocks drifted higher after encouraging US retail sales, while the dollar dipped against the yen but held above its seven-week low hit earlier this week.
WON The won gained as much as 0.6 percent to 1,238.7 per dollar as exporters sold dollars and investors generally shrugged off remarks from North Korea. North Korea said, early on Friday, it was in the final stage of enriching uranium, raising the stakes in efforts by the international community to convince the reclusive state to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Dollar-selling by Korean exporters gained steam after the won rose past 1,245, a key resistance level, traders said. Meanwhile, one-month implied volatilities in the won eased a tad to 13 percent from 13.2 percent at Thursday's close. The volatilities have fallen steadily from as high as 24 percent in July the spot rate stabilised.
RUPIAH The Indonesian rupiah moved between 10,130-10,145 per dollar, little changed from Thursday's close. The high-yielding currency has been consolidating its gains made earlier this year buoyed by a wave of foreign money inflows into the country's stock and bond market.
Reflecting that move, the rupiah's one-month implied volatilities has fallen steadily to 11 percent on Friday from 14 percent in mid-July. Bank Indonesia kept its policy interest rate steady at 6.5 percent on Thursday, as widely expected, making an end to a nine-month easing cycle.
Emmanuel Ng, strategist at OCBC Bank, said that the central bank would stem any rupiah weakness going forward, judging from its statement accompanying the rate decision on Thursday that the rupiah's recent strength helped bring down inflation. "We think that this further underscores market suspicions that untoward rupiah's weakness will be capped by the central bank in the interest of containing imported price pressures," he said in a note.