Asian currencies recorded losses last month as appetite for emerging-market assets waned because of turmoil in global credit markets.
Investors reduced holdings in the region on concern defaults on mortgages to the riskiest buyers in the US will slow economic growth, damping demand for Asian exports from their main market. Indonesia's rupiah had a third month of losses, the worst run in almost two years.
Indonesia's currency fell 2 percent last month to 9,395 against the US dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It rose 0.3 percent yesterday as Asian currencies rebounded after regional stocks gained and as US President George W. Bush's plans to help mortgage borrowers revived confidence in riskier assets.
South Korea's won also had its biggest monthly loss in more than three years amid the US subprime mortgage losses.
The won fell 2.1 percent last month to 938.30 against the US dollar, the biggest decline since April 2004, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. The currency reached 952.30 on Aug. 17, the weakest since Oct. 26 last year.
The Vietnamese dong had the worst month in more than six years, as the government said it increased sales of the currency.
The finance ministry wants to devalue the dong 0.1 percent a year for Vietnam to have an export advantage versus its competitors.
The dong dropped 0.5 percent to 16,236 last month, the most since July 2001, according to prices from HSBC Holdings Plc.
Elsewhere in Asia last month, the Singapore dollar fell 0.7 percent to S$1.5225 and Thailand's baht dropped 1.6 percent to 34.31 in onshore trading.
The New Taiwan dollar weakened 0.6 percent to NT$32.996, Taipei Forex Inc said.
The Taiwanese currency gained NT$0.054 against the greenback compared with Thursday. A total of US$923 million changed hands during the day's trading.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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