Rupiah at one-month high

The Indonesian rupiah hit a one-month high against the dollar on Monday after stronger-than-expected economic growth in the fourth quarter triggered a spike in bond yields and attracted speculative buyers. The rupiah will probably keep rebounding, with the market a bit more confident that Bank Indonesia will cap inflation pressures after it raised policy rates on Friday, though it may not outperform other emerging Asian currencies, analysts and dealers said.
Asian currencies also broadly gained as dealers bought back currencies they deemed a bit oversold in the past few weeks. The South Korean won rose to a three-month high against the dollar, supported by exporters and short covering. The rupiah hit a one-month high against the dollar on buying by short-term investors. Dollar/rupiah slid down to as low as 8,960, the lowest since January 3. The dollar/Philippine peso fell for a fifth consecutive session as dealers said local intraday players were selling the pair and on offshore flows. The dollar/won slid to as low as 1,104, the lowest since January 5, as investors reflected heightened risk appetite during the Lunar New year holidays when Seoul financial markets were closed.