EM ASIA FX-Won leads Asia FX gains; weak data weigh on rupee, rupiah

(Updates prices. For midday report, double-click,

)

SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The South Korean won hit a

near four-month high on Monday, leading gains among emerging

Asian currencies, helped by solid China factory surveys, while

the Indian rupee and the Indonesia rupiah fell on deteriorating

economic fundamentals.

The won rose as much as 0.9 percent to 1,100.1

per dollar in domestic trade, its strongest since May 10, on

demand from exporters for settlements and offshore funds' bids.

The foreign exchange authorities were not spotted

intervening to stem its appreciation despite mounting caution

over their dollar purchases, traders said.

The Taiwan dollar advanced up to 0.7 percent to

29.783, its strongest since July 17, on inflows from foreign

financial institutions and exporters' demand for settlements.

The Malaysian ringgit gained on short-covering

before the result of the government's fiscal meeting chaired by

Prime Minister Najib Razak. He will hold a news conference at

1000 GMT, state news agency Bernama said without giving further

details.

The Philippine peso also advanced as investors

covered bearish bets.

But spot indicative prices for the rupiah fell 0.6

percent to 10,970 per dollar, its weakest since April 2009,

after data showed Indonesia's trade deficit widened to a record

in July, emphasising the difficult road policymakers face in

shrinking a current account gap.

Banks in Indonesia placed dollar bids at more than 11,000

and the rupiah traded there, although the central bank provided

dollars at less than 11,000 rupiah, traders said.

The rupee fell as a survey showed Indian factory

activity shrank for the first time in more than four years last

month.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0800 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 99.33 98.10 -1.24

Sing dlr 1.2736 1.2746 +0.08

Taiwan dlr 29.868 29.983 +0.39

Korean won 1099.85 1110.00 +0.92

Baht 32.07 32.15 +0.25

Peso 44.42 44.61 +0.42

Rupiah 10970.00 10910.00 -0.55

Rupee 66.11 65.70 -0.62

Ringgit 3.2735 3.2848 +0.35

Yuan 6.1187 6.1195 +0.01

Change so far in 2013

Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move

Japan yen 99.33 86.79 -12.62

Sing dlr 1.2736 1.2219 -4.06

Taiwan dlr 29.868 29.136 -2.45

Korean won 1099.85 1070.60 -2.66

Baht 32.07 30.61 -4.55

Peso 44.42 41.05 -7.59

Rupiah 10970.00 9630.00 -12.22

Rupee 66.11 54.99 -16.82

Ringgit 3.2735 3.0580 -6.58

Yuan 6.1187 6.2303 +1.82

(Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon; Editing by Kim Coghill)