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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended weaker against the dollar on Thursday amid import demand in afternoon trade, dealers said.

The spot purchases were mainly through a north-based state-run bank and a European bank, they said.

The rupee ended at 43.57/575 per dollar, weaker than Wednesday's 43.55/555.

Dealers said the rupee moved in a wider range than normal, firming slightly in early deals and slipping in the afternoon.

Forward premiums were ranged but movement was one-sided.

"No one wants to be on the paying side. And there still are stop-losses being triggered," said a dealer with a state-run bank.

The six-month premium ended unchanged at an annualised 3.0 percent.

Premiums began their slide at the weekend after the government cut rates on its small savings schemes by 100 basis points, sparking speculation the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will follow suit with a reduction in key banking rates.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: The rupiah was stable in late Thursday trade with some support from the new budget coupled with the government's new letter of intent to the IMF and positive comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.

The rupiah was trading at 7,270/7,300 to the dollar compared with 7,295/7,345 in early trade.

But dealers said worries that religious violence in the Moluccas and Lombok could spread are weighing down sentiment.

"I still see strong demand for dollars from both offshore and local players," said a foreign bank dealer.

"But positive events including the new state budget and the letter of intent have helped push the currency higher."The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday its board would meet on February 4 to discuss Indonesia's new letter of intent, and would disburse around $400 million if it was approved.

The IMF's senior representative in Indonesia, John Dodsworth, said the Fund's new package for the country was worth $5 billion over three years.

Dodsworth said that Indonesia's asset sales targets for the April to end-December period were "ambitious but feasible". Indonesia targeted 5.9 trillion rupiah form privatisation and 16.25 trillion from sales of assets controlled by the Indoensian Bank Restructuring Agency.

Dealers said they expected the rupiah to move in a range of between 7,200 and 7,400 in the short term.

"Religious violence in Mataram has reversed the bullish feeling, otherwise the rupiah would have been trading at around 7,100 to 7,200 to the dollar now," one said.

Indonesia has received assurances from foreign creditors that an external financing gap of about $4.3 billion in 2000 will be met by new loans, according to the new letter of intent.

It also said there "remains room to guide interest rates down cautiously further", given the absence of inflation.

The market reaction was minimal when the government announced its new budget earlier on Thursday.

Dealers said it contained no surprises and the market was more focused on whether the country could contain the violence.

The budget assumed an average rupiah exchange rate of 7,000 to the dollar from April to end-December, as the market had expected.

As expected, it also assumed April-December GDP growth of 3.8 percent an average year-on-year inflation of 4.8 percent. The budget deficit was five percent of GDP, compared with a projected 5.8 percent in the fiscal year to end-March.-Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan ended slightly higher against the dollar in thin trade on Thursday, buoyed by light technical buying after a dip the previous day, dealers said.

The yuan finished at 8.2795 to one U.S. dollar from 8.2798 on Wednesday after moving in a narrow range of 8.2793 and 8.2796.

Central bank governor Dai Xianglong's assertion on Thursday that a favourable balance of payments would keep the yuan stable this year had no impact because other senior officials had made similar comments previously, they said.

"We expect both exports and foreign direct investment to increase even with the accession to the WTO. This will be favourable for the balance of payments and keep the foreign exchange rate stable this year," Dai told a news conference.

"Dai's remarks had no impact on trading today as similar comments had been made by other senior officials," said a dealer at a foreign bank. "The rise today was purely due to technical demand from local banks after yesterday's fall."

Dealers said the yuan would be supported by increased demand from domestic banks for staff bonuses and other uses ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on February 5.

But the potential for a sharp rise was limited as banks were unlikely to build heavy positions ahead of the new year.

The foreign exchange market is usually closed for about one week for the Lunar New Year holiday, although a timetable has yet to be announced.

The yuan was likely to move in a narrow range between 8.2785 to 8.2795 ahead of the holiday, dealers said.

It closed lower against the Japanese yen at 7.9743 to 100 yen against 7.8920 on Wednesday.

It ended little changed against the Hong Kong dollar at 1.0647 to HK$1.0 from 1.0645.-Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won ended stronger against the dollar on Thursday as a late surge in local stocks spurred a bout of profit-taking and long plays that trounced persistent dollar buying by the central bank, dealers said.

The Bank of Korea intervened in the market and bought dollars to rein in the won but failed to put a lid on the won's strength, they said.

The won closed at 1,125.5 compared with Wednesday's close of 1,132.5.

It started off at 1,135.0 and ranged between 1,125.5 and 1,137.0.

The gains came in line with a rise in the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price index, where late gains lifted it to close at 945.90 points, up 7.12 points or 0.76 percent.

"The market saw a choppy trade for the day as there have been a tussle between offshore investors who went long on dollar and profit-takers," said a dealer at a domestic bank.

After opening weaker on follow-through dollar buying, the won started gaining momentum as profit-taking emerged, dealers said.

As the dollar selling threatened the key 1,130 won level, the Bank of Korea (BOK) came into the market to prevent the currency from falling through that level, they said.

The intervention prompted offshore players to expand their dollar-buy orders which drove the U.S. currency higher back to 1,135 level, dealers said.

But the market faced another heavy round of profit-taking in late afternoon which invited second direct dollar purchases by the central bank, said another dealer at a foreign bank.

The sudden strength in the won above the key 1,130 level was held in check by the BOK but the authorities failed to turn around sentiment for the won, he said.

The market will likely see the won rising further to the dollar on Friday if local stocks performed well and shrugged off recent bearishness, dealers said.

They expected the won/dollar pair to move in a range of 1,123-1,128 on Friday.

In non-deliverable forward market, the six-month won stood at 1,126/28 versus 1,127/29 late on Wednesday.

The one-year won was quoted at 1,131/33 versus 1,132/35.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso shrugged off initial jitters from political developments to end firmer on Thursday as it followed the upward trend of the baht in late trade.

But traders said the market remained wary of local political developments related to an ongoing Senate probe into the meteoric rise and fall of shares of BW Resource Corp .

The peso closed at 40.64 to the dollar, up from Wednesday's 40.695. It opened at 40.67 but fell to 40.77 in morning trade on concerns over the Senate inquiry.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada denied he had interfered with the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into BW to determine whether there was price manipulation.

"The strength of the peso was just in line with regionals," said a trader from a local bank.

Another trader from a foreign bank said: "Offshore players are still wary to sell the dollar against peso, especially with the recent controversy involving the president." The baht was quoted at 37.20/30 in the spot market by late trade on Thursday from 37.33/37 in early trade.

Turnover at the peso/dollar market was almost flat at $204.30 million from Wednesday's $205.70 million.

The peso is expected to range from 40.50 to 40.90 on Friday.

"The sentiment of the market will be a factor but it will still depend if the baht will appreciate further," a local bank trader said.-Reuters