Emerging Asian currencies rise

Emerging Asian currencies rose on Monday as US and China data pointed to a strengthening global economic recovery, while the yuan jumped after the central bank fixed the daily midpoint surprisingly higher. The South Korean won touched a near six-year peak on sustained stock inflows, although intervention by the foreign exchange authorities capped its upside. Malaysia's ringgit hit a near seven-month high, tracking its strength in non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) on hedge funds demand.
The Thai baht advanced to levels seen before the May 22 military coup on demand from both offshore and local investors as public protests against the junta dwindled. In China, exports in May gained steam, even though an unexpected drop in imports indicated weaker domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy, weekend data showed.
"The US nonfarm payrolls data came in at a 'sweet spot' for Asian FX," Scotiabank said in a client note. The won advanced 0.3 percent to 1,017.0 per dollar, its strongest since August 2008, as foreign investors were set to extend their buying spree in Seoul shares for an 18th consecutive session. They have bought a combined net 3.15 trillion won ($3.10 billion) worth of stocks during the period, the Korea Exchange data showed. The won also found support from catch-up demand as South Korean financial markets were closed on Friday for a holiday when other Asian currencies gained on the ECB's easing and a stronger yuan.
The foreign exchange authorities were, however, spotted intervening to curb the won's appreciation as the currency also hit a near six-year high against the Japanese yen. The baht rose as much as 0.5 percent to 32.42 per dollar, its strongest since May 22 when Thailand's military seized power. The ringgit rose as much as 0.6 percent to 3.1930 per dollar, its strongest since November 21. Hedge funds bought one-month NDFs, traders said.
A senior Malaysian bank trader in Kuala Lumpur said spot ringgit has room to strengthen to 3.1700-3.1800. Malaysian exports surged by nearly a fifth in April, beating market forecasts and increasing expectations that the central bank may raise interest rates next month.
The rupiah gained on its strength in overnight NDFs market. The official Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, which Indonesia's central bank launched last year in an effort to manage exchange rate fluctuations, was fixed at 11,790 per dollar, stronger than the previous day's 11,823.