EM ASIA FX-Asia FX up after Yellen, China PMI; rupiah hovers near 17-year low
* Rupiah firms; month-end corporate dollar bids limits gains
* Won up more than 1 pct on exporters, stop-loss dlr selling
* Taiwan dollar rises on exporters, stock inflows
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Jongwoo Cheon
SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies
rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
suggested the U.S. central bank will not rush into raising
interest rates, while Indonesia's rupiah hovered near 17-year
lows.
Regional currencies gained as better-than-expected Chinese
manufacturing activity eased some concerns over a slowdown in
the world's second-largest economy.
The South Korean won and the Taiwan dollar
advanced on exporter demand for month-end settlements.
Malaysia's ringgit gained on short-covering.
Yellen said before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on
Tuesday that any modification of the Fed's forward guidance
should not be read as an indication of interest rate hikes in a
couple of meetings.
The comments defied expectations that she would provide a
more specific time frame to revive prospects for higher U.S.
borrowing costs as early as mid-year. Such expectations hurt
most emerging Asian currencies earlier this week.
Adding to support for regional currencies, the flash
HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for China inched up
to a four-month high of 50.1 in February, beating market
expectations.
"Asia FX could see some slight positives for a short term on
the back of dollar reprieve from Yellen's comments and commodity
currencies could see some upmove from the positive HSBC flash
PMI," said Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX research for Maybank in
Singapore.
Still, he had doubts about appreciation in the long term,
saying "the dollar will continue to mildly go up ahead of the
next FOMC."
The Chinese yuan failed to join the regional
appreciation trend as the central bank fixed its daily mid-point
weaker on the first trading day after the week-long Lunar New
Year holidays.
RUPIAH
The rupiah started the day up 0.4 percent at a
session high of 12,850 per dollar, tracking gains in regional
peers, before retreating.
Foreign ownership of rupiah-denominated bonds rose to a
record high in nominal terms this week, the finance ministry
said.
The Indonesian currency gave up most of its earlier gains on
increasing dollar demand from local companies for month-end
payments.
The official Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate,
which the central bank introduced in 2013 to manage exchange
rate fluctuations, was fixed at 12,887 rupiah per dollar, weaker
than the previous session's 12,866.
On Tuesday, the rupiah fell to 12,897 per dollar, the
weakest since Dec. 16 when it hit 12,930, the lowest since
August 1998.
WON
The won rose more than 1 percent as demand from exporters
caused traders to dump dollar holdings to stop losses.
Traders had added long dollar positions earlier as importers
bought the greenback and amid caution over possible intervention
by South Korea's foreign exchange authorities to curb the won's
strength.
TAIWAN DOLLAR
The Taiwan dollar gained as sustained stock inflows lifted
local shares.
The central bank was spotted intervening to limit the
currency's upside, traders said.
Foreign investors bought a combined net T$73.1 billion ($2.3
billion) worth of shares in February by Tuesday, Taiwan Stock
Exchange data showed. They were net buyers in the stock market
in all trading days this month, the data showed.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0510 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 118.67 118.98 +0.26
Sing dlr 1.3568 1.3573 +0.04
Taiwan dlr 31.472 31.688 +0.69
Korean won 1100.00 1109.90 +0.90
Baht 32.56 32.57 +0.05
Peso 44.16 44.34 +0.40
Rupiah 12880.00 12895.00 +0.12
Rupee 62.06 62.20 +0.22
Ringgit 3.6220 3.6415 +0.54
Yuan 6.2595 6.2551 -0.07
Change so far in 2015
Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move
Japan yen 118.67 119.66 +0.83
Sing dlr 1.3568 1.3260 -2.27
Taiwan dlr 31.472 31.718 +0.78
Korean won 1100.00 1099.30 -0.06
Baht 32.56 32.90 +1.06
Peso 44.16 44.72 +1.27
Rupiah 12880.00 12380.00 -3.88
Rupee 62.06 63.03 +1.56
Ringgit 3.6220 3.4965 -3.46
Yuan 6.2595 6.2040 -0.89
($1 = 31.455 Taiwan dollars)
(Additional reporting by Roger Tung in TAIPEI; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
