Won leads Asia forex rebounds

South Korea's won led rebounds in emerging Asian currencies on Monday as weaker-than-expected US jobs data prompted investors to cut dollar holdings. The won rose as the yen's rebound eased concerns over weakening export competitiveness of the country. Malaysia's ringgit advanced as investors covered short positions. The ringgit also gained versus the neighbouring Singapore dollar.
The Chinese yuan rose against the dollar on Monday after the central bank set the midpoint to its strongest level since mid-March. The dollar fell against a basket of six major currencies after data on Friday showing US employers added 214,000 new jobs to their payrolls in October, missing forecasts of 231,000.
The unemployment rate fell to a fresh six-year low of 5.8 percent, indicating a solid recovery in the world's top economy, but investors took profits from the greenback's recent strength against emerging Asian currencies for now. "We may see a further rebound in Asian currencies, given the dollar's correction after the payrolls data and amid hopes for more liquidity," said Yuna Park, a currency and bond analyst at Dongbu Securities in Seoul.
Last week, regional currencies slid on worries that a solid US jobs data could increase possibilities of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. The won suffered the largest weekly loss in almost 1-1/2 years as the yen hit a seven-year low. South Korean authorities won't sit on their hands while a tumbling yen undercuts the country's export competitiveness, the central bank chief said on Friday.
The won rose against the dollar as investors covered short positions in the worst performing emerging Asian currency last week on the yen's rebound. The ringgit's gains accelerated after a break of 3.3300 per dollar spurred short covering. Some traders still looked to sell the ringgit on dips, given a solid recovery in the US economy. "The dollar is a king now," said a senior Malaysian bank trader in Kuala Lumpur. The trader said he would buy the greenback around 3.3000-3.3100.