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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended little changed in listless trade on Friday amid light dollar bids by a state-run bank in late deals, dealers said.

The rupee ended at 43.60/605 per dollar compared with Thursday's close at 43.5975/6025.

Dealers said there was intermittent dollar buying by a state-run firm and a small European bank earlier in the day.

The forward market saw action, dealers said.

"The premiums came down along with call rates. There was a small uptick in far forwards when a private bank paid, but even that did not last," a dealer with a state-run bank said.

Call rates slipped below eight percent on the reporting day as most banks had low borrowing requirements.

But dealers said fund supplies had improved and will keep rates soft next week too.

The six-month forward premium ended lower at 3.4 percent compared with Thursday's 3.52.

Dealers said the forward market could be more active next week as corporates and banks shuffled positions before the year-end.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: The Indonesian rupiah was little changed on Friday after the government said it allowed the winning bidder for a stake in Astra to pay in dollars based on a rate of 7,460 rupiah, the middle rate prevailing on Wednesday.

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which sold a stake of 39.5 percent, on Friday announced the winner of the stake sale with an offer price of 3,700 rupiah per share, expected to fetch around $500 million.

"The offer price is rather disappointing, but given the time constraint it may be the best that could get right now," one large local bank dealer said.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,445/7,455 to the dollar compared with 7,455/7,465 at Thursday's close.

Another dealer said whether the winning bidder which included Singapore-based car retailer Cycle & Carriage would pay in dollars or partly in rupiah would depend on the existing market price.

"Stronger rupiah demand may start kicking in if the local unit moves to levels weaker than 7,460 in the coming days," one foreign bank dealer said.

Dealers said immediate support level for the rupiah was seen at around 7,460, while resistance was seen at 7,400.

Foreign exchange markets had been braced for the impact of a sudden conversion from the proceeds. The money is to be used to help bridge the budget deficit for the fiscal year that ends on March 31.

Bank Indonesia said 6.96 trillion rupiah in funds matured early on Friday. 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 unchanged against the dollar on Friday after a morning of slow trade.

The yuan ended at 8.2790 to one US dollar after being sandwiched in a range of 8.2784 to 8.2793.

"Though dollar buying came up a bit in the late trade, it was not strong enough to push down the yuan," said a dealer at a local bank.

Banks mainly trade in the strictly controlled yuan market for their corporate clients for trade settlement.

Dealers said the interest rate movements of dollar deposits in China could affect the yuan exchange rate slightly in the near term.

The US Federal Reserve raised its key funds rate by 25 basis points to six percent on Tuesday.

Dealers said this put pressure on interest rates for US dollar deposits in China, now at 4.4375 percent for one year.

But any changes in fundamentals, including the trade surplus, foreign direct investment and interest rates, would filter into the controlled market only gradually, they said.

The central bank was likely to intervene if the yuan moved out of its usual range of 8.2770 to 8.2800, they said.

The yuan strengthened against the Japanese yen to 7.6865 to 100 yen compared with 7.7952 on Thursday. It ended lower at 1.0643 against the Hong Kong dollar from 1.0635.-Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won ended at a fresh year high versus the dollar on Friday as persistent inflows of foreign equity funds and export settlements weighed on the greenback, dealers said.

The local currency closed at 1,108.7 to the dollar compared with Thursday's close of 1,109.8.

The won, staying in territory hit on Thursday for the first time since November 1997, opened at a low of 1,111 and hit an intraday high of 1,107.5. "The market moved in a tight range as players were reluctant to be aggressive in dumping the greenback on intervention fears," said a local dealer at a foreign bank.

Dealers said in an ironic twist, the uncharacteristic silence of monetary authorities, who have verbally intervened frequently of late, made banks cautious.

In early morning, short-covering by some banks and scattered import settlements were seen bolstering the US currency. But the dollar's upside was capped by local exporter offers worth more than $150 million for the day, dealers said.

They said export deals prompted by the nearing end of the month spurred market players to liquidate long-dollar positions, especially after the US currency attempted a rebound in early trade.

About $150 million in foreign equity purchase settlements also weighed on the dollar, a foreign bank dealer said. Foreign investors added a net 180.97 billion won in equity purchases on Friday.

Dealers expected the currency market to move in a tight range similar to the day next week with a near-term bottom seen at 1,105-1,106 won.

Some warned, however, that the greenback could stage a quick and sharp rebound next week if monetary authorities step up their direct dollar buying.

State-run banks soaked up the US currency on Friday as usual but dealers said the day's buying was insignificant.

Without a forceful step by authorities, dealers said the won's bull run would rumble forth next week.

In the non-deliverable forward market, the six-month won stood at 1,109/10 to the dollar with the one-year won quoted at 1,112/13.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso ended weaker against the dollar on Friday despite expectations of investments flows and firmer regional currencies.

Dealers said the peso took its cue from the parallel market where it reached a low of 40.97 to the dollar in late trade from just 40.93 in morning deals.

At the Philippine Dealing System, the electronic trading system of the Bankers Association of the Philippines, the peso closed at 40.93 against 40.87 on Thursday.

The local unit opened at its day-high of 40.85 and reached a low of 40.94. Volume thinned to $190.2 million from $252.6 million.

Referring to the peso's movement at the parallel market, a dealer with a big local bank said: "The dollar demand was substantial and despite expectations of more dollars to come in next week, it was not sufficient reason to deter the demand for dollars." More flows are expected to come in next week of Japan is expected to infuse $360 million equity into Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

The listing of shares of Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday meant that the insurance firm would now have to remit cash to policyholders who opted not to become shareholders, one trader said.

Another trader said most banks were comfortable in staying long on the dollar over the weekend due to the still poor investor sentiment in the country.

On Monday, the peso may trade in the 40.85 to 40.95 to the dollar range, leaning toward a firmer bias, the trader said.

The start of the week is usually marked by slow corporate dollar demand, while dollar supply over the weekend is expected to come in from remittances of overseas workers.

And as April, the start of school enrollment, nears, overseas workers will remit more money to pay for tuition fees, the trader said.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar ended higher against the US dollar for the fourth straight day on Friday, bolstered by the central bank's unexpected key rate increases and continued inflows of foreign funds.

But dealers said US dollar buying from importers and interbank operators to cover their short positions restricted the local currency's rise uptrend.

CLOSE: T$30.664 to the US dollar compared to Thursday's finish at T$30.674. On the smaller Cosmos exchange, the Taiwan unit ended at T$30.667 against T$30.674 on Thursday.

TURNOVER THROUGH DEALERS: slow at US$341.5 million compared to Thursday's US$438 million. Cosmos turnover rose to US$204 million from 167 million on Thursday.

The Taiwan dollar opened sharply higher at T$30.637, an intraday high to the US dollar, but soon fell back while still managing to retain some of its gains. After a strong opening, dealers said the Taiwan dollar failed to advance further as the interest rate increases were limited and carried merely a symbolic meaning.

The central bank lifted the discount rate on Thursday to 4.625 percent from 4.5 percent and raised the accommodation with collateral rate to five percent from 4.875 percent, with effect from on Friday.

Central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said the rate increases reflected concerns over inflation and did not represent monetary tightening, or have anything to do with politics.

Dealers said the buoyant Taiwan dollar triggered some bargain-hunting buying of the US dollar, which kept the local currency from further rising.

One dealer at a trustee bank for foreign funds said foreign fund inflows showed no signs of easing, which offered solid support to the Taiwan dollar. He estimated foreign fund inflows amounted to US$100 million on Friday.

Foreign funds bought a hefty T$9.286 billion in local equity on Friday, bringing total net buying of T$18.849 billion over the last three sessions.

For next week, dealers said they expected a trading range of T$30.60-T$30.70 for the Taiwan currency.-Reuters