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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended slightly firmer on Wednesday as heavy dollar inflows, suspected to be part of foreign portfolio inflows, met demand from state-run banks and corporates, dealers said.

They said a large foreign bank had been a seller of dollars over the past two days.

The rupee ended at 43.58/585 per dollar compared with Tuesday's 43.5825/5925.

A petrochemicals firm and a large export house were among the corporates which bought dollars to fund imports, dealers said.

"Foreign investors bought around $90 million worth of equities in the later part of last week. Looks like they are bringing the dollars in," a dealer with a foreign bank said.

Investments by foreign funds so far in March are around $117 million, compared with $619 million last month.

Dealers said they expected the spot rupee to continue its range-bound trend as state-run banks mopped up dollar inflows.

The month-end, which also is the accounting year-end, should see slight pressure on the rupee as corporates hedged imports, they said.

Dealers said forward premiums inched up during the day, with levels rising despite the shift in spot dates to next week.

Markets are shut on Friday and Monday for festival holidays.

Dealers said there was paying in some near maturities, which probably reflected the continuing uncertainty over interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday denied a newspaper report that said it plans to cut the bank rate by one percentage point or trim the cash reserve ratio (CRR) in the first week of April, ahead of the monetary and credit policy for 2000/2001 (April-March).

Dealers said the tightness in the money market and a bearish outlook for rates with a state loan sale and advance tax outflows next week had led to paying by banks.

The six-month premium ended Wednesday at an annualised 3.53 percent compared with Tuesday's 3.46.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: Indonesia's rupiah was little changed on Wednesday, with a further fall in the benchmark SBI interest rate having no significant impact on the market.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,425/7,445 to the dollar compared with 7,430/7,445 in late local trade on Tuesday.

"The SBI rate fell only slightly. It did not have much impact on the market," one dealer at a US-based bank said.

The one-month SBI rate fell to 10.95 percent on Wednesday from 10.97 percent last week.

Another dealer said offshore dollar buying emerged an hour before the local market close after the rupiah failed to sustain its small gains earlier in the day.

"Offshore players, particularly from Singapore, increased their dollar buying in late trade after the rupiah failed to move closer to 7,400 this morning," the dealer said.

Dealers said the rupiah's failure to move closer to 7,400 was partly due to steady dollar demand from local corporates ahead of the end of fiscal year on March 31.

They said the rupiah was likely to remain in a tight range on Friday after trading in a tight 7,390 to 7,440 range on Wednesday.

Indonesian financial markets will be closed on Thursday due to a public holiday.

Bank Indonesia said 10.85 trillion rupiah in funds matured early on Wednesday. Overnight rates still hovered at 9.25 percent for foreign banks and 9.5 percent for local banks.-Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan closed slightly higher against the dollar on Wednesday as domestic banks bought the local currency due to demand from exporters.

The yuan ended at 8.2777 to one US dollar from 8.2781 on Tuesday after moving in a narrow range of 8.2774 and 8.2782.

"We saw an increase yuan demand from local exporters recently, an indication of a continued improvement in exports," said a local bank dealer.

The yuan had been supported by China's growing exports, which surged a year-on-year 41.2 percent in the first two months of this year to $31.57 billion, continuing a recovery begun in the second half of last year, dealers said.

But the yuan was also under pressure as China's imports grew faster than exports, they said.

Imports soared 54.2 percent to $28.69 billion in January and February, reducing the trade surplus to $2.89 billion, down from $3.77 billion in the same period of last year.

Dealers said foreign trade data were a key factor in the yuan's exchange rates as they decide foreign exchange demand and supply on the market because the yuan was not convertible on the current account.

The yuan was likely to move mainly in a narrow range between 8.2780 and 8.2790 in the near term, they said.

The yuan closed lower against the Japanese yen at 7.8861 to 100 yen from 7.8341 on Tuesday. It ended slightly higher against the Hong Kong dollar at 1.0630 to HK$1.0 from 1.0635. -Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won closed marginally higher against the dollar on Wednesday as it strengthened versus the greenback and then backed off, tracking the movement of the yen versus the US unit, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,118.3 per dollar against Tuesday's close of 1,118.5.

It opened at 1,119.5 and ranged between 1,116.5 and 1,119.5. "The dollar/won rate traced the dollar/yen movement today," said a foreign bank dealer.

The yen fell dramatically back to 106.15/19 per dollar late in Tokyo trade after the Bank of Japan's intervention, from the day's low of 104.78.

It compared with 105.12/15 late in Tokyo on Tuesday.

When the dollar/won rate fell to the day's low of 1,116.5 during the afternoon session, South Korea's Ministry of Finance and Economy reiterated its vow to take action if necessary to cap the won's rise.

The ministry said in a statement it was not desirable for the won to appreciate in line with the yen's rise against the greenback.

Dealers said state-run banks bought dollars following the finance ministry's verbal intervention. Dollar-buying intervention was estimated at $200 million on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jai said he expected no large movement in the won/dollar rate from its current level since supply and demand of dollars should be balanced in the first half of the year.

Speaking at a seminar for businessmen and scholars, Lee said: "While there are some variables such as inflows of foreign equity investment, supply and demand for dollars will be balanced in the first half."

"The exchange rate won't see any large movement from its current level."

Lee's comments helped keep the dollar/won rate in a tight range, dealers said.

Dealers earlier said offshore dollar/won trading in the non-deliverable forward market was thin as the spot trading was cooped in a narrow range.

In the forward market, the six-month won was quoted at 1,119.0/20.5 against 1,119.5/20.5 late on Tuesday.

The one-year won was at 1,121.5/23.0 against 1,122.0/1,1124.0.

Dealers forecast the dollar/won rate would move from 1,116 to 1,120 on Thursday. -Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso ended a shade higher after a weak start on Wednesday in line with the rebound of the Thai baht and inflows into local companies, traders said.

The local currency settled at 40.93 to the dollar from its previous closing of 40.935.

Earlier, the peso fell to a day low of 40.98.

"The peso appreciated in the afternoon because of inflows," said one trader.

The same trader said some $30 million seeped into the local market on Wednesday.

Another trader said part of the inflows would be used for the capital expansion of a local semiconductor firm. He refused to name the company.

A third trader said: "We also followed the baht." The Thai baht strengthened after the conclusion of the Thai Petrochemical Industry bankruptcy proceedings but was almost flat in late trade.

Turnover at the Philippine Dealing System, the electronic trading network of the Bankers Association of the Philippines, was slightly higher at $158.6 million from Tuesday's $155.6 million.

Dealers said they see rangebound trade on Thursday.

The peso may trade between at 40.80 to 40.95 to the dollar as demand for the US currency is likely to ease after importers bought their requirements in previous sessions, said one trader. -Reuters