The Malaysian ringgit and Taiwan dollar led an extended strong Asian rally on Wednesday, fuelled by speculation China may let the yuan rise in the next few months amid perceived easing of Sino-US tensions over the currency. China's National Development and Reform Commission said that in a statement it would keep the yuan stable but alerted exporters to potential risks to minimise their losses. It did not elaborate.
In a sign that China might be near reaching a consensus on allowing yuan's appreciation, its central bank set its key daily reference rate at 6.8259 to the dollar, the highest since last May but still well within the tight range of the past 20 months. Despite suspected Malaysian and Taiwan central bank interventions to control currency gains, the ringgit approached a 23-month high and the Taiwan dollar touched a fresh 19-month peak.
RINGGIT The Malaysian ringgit extended its rally to a 23-month high of 3.1930 per dollar, up 0.61 percent from Tuesday. A dealer earlier spotted dollar bids from the Malaysian central bank at around 3.1970 but the rare action was not confirmed by others.
Dealers said apart from riding market expectations of gains for the yuan, the ringgit was boosted by market talk that China was considering promoting the ringgit as a currency for direct Sino-Malaysian trade.
"The spot ringgit's breach of the 3.2000 resistance today triggers more selling pressure on the dollar which has lost ground after Goldman Sachs recommended selling USD/MYR and USD/SGD," a Singapore-based trader said. Dollar/ringgit was bid at 3.1930 at its highest, compared with 3.2125 late on Tuesday. The Malaysian unit, the best Asian performer this year, has surged 2.1 percent in the past week and 5.2 percent in the past month.
WON The South Korean won extended to a three-month high, but the authorities were spotted intervening and buying dollars to curb its rapid run up.
The won found support from continued foreign buying of Korean stocks and prospects for a Chinese yuan revaluation. The won was quoted at 1,120.9 per dollar against the previous domestic close of 1,123.2. The local currency firmed up to 1,120.6, highest since January 14. Foreign investors bought a net 185.1 billion won worth of stocks on the main exchange, after having invested a cumulative net 5.28 trillion won during the previous 18 straight sessions.
BAHT The Thai baht firmed about a quarter of a percent in line with bullish Asian peers in early trade, shrugging off growing street protests in Bangkok's key shopping and hotel district that went into a fifth day. The baht has lost 0.06 percent in the past week but has appreciated 0.87 percent in the past month. Dollar/baht was bid at 32.32 against 32.39 late on Monday. Tuesday was a Thai public holiday.
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