The Singapore dollar and Malaysian ringgit hit their highest in more than a decade on Thursday and most other Asian currencies also rose as betting on a US rate cut in March increased after weak US data. The Philippine peso and Taiwan dollar gained 0.5 percent each after the US dollar weakened to a record low against a basket of major currencies.
The dollar fell after soft private sector employment data from the US and figures indicating the service sector had contracted in February. Despite increased risk aversion, some investors were spurred to bet on Asian currencies on expectations of an aggressive cut in US rates when the Federal Reserve meets on March 18.
The US dollar's weakness bets on Asian economic resilience and Asia's strong external balances were keeping foreigners from leaving the region, said Thio Chin Loo, a senior currency strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore. The Singapore dollar rose by 0.2 percent to hit 1.3865, its highest since May 1995, in early trade.
But it struggled to rise further. Traders suspect the central bank has intervened this week to cap a currency they estimate has hit the top of its secret trade-weighted policy band. The Malaysian ringgit rose by 0.3 percent to hit 3.1625 per dollar, its highest since October 1997, helped by the strength in the Singapore dollar because of the close links between the neighbouring countries.
"The ringgit rose because of the prolonged weakness of the US dollar, plus the Singapore dollar broke levels of 1.39," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur. Analysts said that the ringgit could find some technical resistance beyond these levels and the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, might also rein it in.
"We are getting into some major congestion levels in dollar/ringgit if 3.1625 gives way," Suresh Ramanathan, a strategist at CIMB in Malaysia, said in a note. Elsewhere, the Taiwan dollar closed near an eight-year high after equities rose by 2 percent, helped by positive sentiment ahead of a presidential election.
The South Korean won bucked the trend and fell to 950.1 per dollar, its lowest in six weeks. South Korea's Finance Ministry said on Thursday that higher oil prices and a slowdown in the global economy were increasingly likely to have an impact on the country.
In addition, the currency weakened as foreign investors sold a net 148.6 billion won of shares on the stock market. The yuan fell by 0.1 percent to 7.1143 per dollar after the central bank set a weaker mid-point for the third consecutive day, signalling to the market that it wanted to stall appreciation for the moment.
The governor of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, said currency appreciation would be helpful in controlling inflation but would not be the main way of reining it in.