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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended slightly weaker on Thursday amid heavy dollar supplies and bids mainly from state-run banks buying on behalf of the central bank, dealers said.

The rupee ended at 43.6025/6075 per dollar against the previous close of 43.59/595, but off the day's opening level of 43.61/615.

Dealers said dollar supplies were aplenty, but steady bids from state-run banks prevented the rupee from strengthening.

"The rupee opened weak adjusting for the weekend carry. After that, there were (dollar) sellers through the day," a dealer at a state-run bank said.

"We did expect some month-end dollar demand today, particularly for cash dollars. But that was not seen."

Dealers said the country's largest bank, the State Bank of India SBI.BO was a steady dollar bidder at 43.605 levels, but the market had enough sellers.

Dealers suspect SBI's dollar purchases to be at the behest of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for boosting its foreign exchange reserves and releasing rupees to ease money market tightness.

Forward premiums, especially far forwards, ended lower amid heavy receiving interest, with the spot value date having moved into the new month and financial year, dealers said.

The six-month premium ended at an annualised 3.33 percent against 3.53 percent on Wednesday.-Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan edged lower against the US dollar on Thursday in light trade as most dealers stayed on the sidelines with few orders from corporate clients. The yuan ended at 8.2789 to one US dollar against 8.2787 on Wednesday. The daily fluctuation narrowed to a thin band of 8.2786 to 8.2790, compared with a range of 8.2787 to 8.2794 in the previous session.

"Trading was quite thin today and there seemed to be not many orders from banks' clients," said a dealer at a local bank.

Some dealers said they expected China's central bank might raise interest rates on US dollar deposits, which could put downward pressure on the local unit in the long term.

The US Federal Reserve raised its key funds rate by 25 basis points to six percent last week. The one-year deposit rate for US dollars in China is now 4.4375 percent.

But the People's Bank of China was likely to step in if the yuan fell through the key 8.2800 mark, they said.

In the near-term, foreign trade statistics for the first quarter, expected to be released in early April, could hit the yuan exchange rate, they said.

The yuan weakened against the Japanese yen to 7.8428 to 100 yen from 7.8152 on Wednesday. It also closed down at 1.0638 against the Hong Kong dollar from 1.0631. -Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won ended at a 28-month high against the dollar on Thursday, propelled by inflows of foreign equity funds that prompted players to liquidate long dollar positions, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,107.4 to the dollar compared with Wednesday's close of 1,109.4.

It was its highest close since November 24, 1997 when it closed at 1,056.0, a Korea Development Bank official said.

The Korean unit opened at an intraday low of 1,110.5 and rose as high as 1,106.7.

"The market saw heavy dollar supplies from foreign buying of local stocks yesterday," said a dealer at a foreign bank.

On Wednesday, foreigners bought a net 304.4 billion won worth of shares on the Korea Stock Exchange.

Foreign investors bought a net 22.19 billion won in shares on Thursday, traders said.

"Players, who built up dollar positions to 1,108 won, turned to sell as the government appeared to let the dollar slide into the 1,107 won level," said the foreign bank dealer.

The greenback was also under pressure from month-end exporter dollar offers.

Dealers said state banks, including the Export-Import Bank of Korea, purchased between $100 million and $150 million in the day to soak up dollar supplies from foreign equity investors.

A local bank dealer said the dollar could drop as low as 1,105 won level largely influenced by foreign stock funds.

The won is expected to move between 1,105 and 1,109 on Friday.

The six-month non-deliverable forward (NDF) won was quoted at 1,108.0/19.5 versus 1,110.0/11.5 late on Wednesday.

The one-year won stood at 1,110.5/12.0 against 1,113.0/15.0.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso ended at its lowest level in three weeks on Thursday as month-end corporate demand compounded by weaker regional currencies prompted banks to favour the dollar, traders said.

Central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said the volatility in the peso was caused in part by a maturing euro-peso note worth more than $100 million.

The peso ended at 41.075 to the dollar, near its day low of 41.09, against on Wednesday's close of 40.995. It opened at 41.035.

Some banks also covered short dollar positions they got into on expectations of corporate inflows at around this time. The peso had touched a low of 41.15 mark in intra-day trades early this month but its last closing low was the 41.625 mark on October 26, 1998.

"There are month-end corporate requirements coinciding with the baht's slide," said a trader from a foreign bank.

The baht reached a low of 37.88 to the dollar on Thursday against its previous close of 37.80.

The peso sometimes follows the baht because the Philippines and Thailand compete in the same export markets.

Buenaventura said the central bank did not intervene in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday and Thursday although traders earlier said they noticed the central bank was positioned at the 41.05 to the dollar level.

"The market knows the central bank may come in, we can never tell. That's keeping the cap (on the peso's movement)," one trader said.

The central bank also said there was no need to adjust its key overnight rates despite the slide of the peso.

Traders said the peso may stay above the 41 mark, with the next support at the 41.15 to 41.20 range.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIWAN: The Taiwan dollar opened higher at T$30.504, the intraday low, and gained upward momentum, pushing through the T$30.4 threshold in trade to T$30.389.

But dealers said active central bank intervention kept the domestic currency from rising further.

The Taiwan dollar gradually eased back as profit-taking US dollar buys pared the early gains.

On the smaller Cosmos market, the Taiwan dollar closed at T$30.465 compared to T$30.51 on Wednesday with turnover nearly doubling at US$304 million from US$164 million.

Dealers said interbank operators trimming their US dollar positions lit a fire under the Taiwan dollar and the buoyancy of the currency prompted exporters to dump their US dollar, adding further upward pressure to the domestic currency. Dealers said the strength of the Japanese currency, which usually dictates the Taiwan dollar as Japan is one of the island's major trade partners, also offered support to the Taiwan dollar.

The yen, which firmed above 105 against the US dollar overnight in New York on Wednesday, was trading around 105.22 compared to its close of 105.69 in New York on Wednesday.

Dealers said persistent inflows of foreign equity funds also lent upward momentum to the Taiwan dollar.

Foreign funds were net buyers of T$4.647 billion in Taiwan stocks on Thursday, accumulating T$30.672 billion in local equities over last seven sessions of net buying.

Dealers said the Taiwan dollar still had room to rise further, but they said the central bank would intervene to keep the Taiwan currency in check.-Reuters

Indonesia rupiah

JAKARTA: Indonesia's rupiah weakened in early trade on Thursday, flirting with the 7,600 level on renewed corporate dollar demand and concerns about the pace of economic reform.

The IMF said on Wednesday its next $400 million loan payment, originally due in April, had been delayed to May, and would depend on progress in economic reforms.

Dealers said that while the delay was not a serious blow to Indonesia, it had damaged sentiment.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,595/7,625 to the dollar versus 7,560/7,580 in late local trade on Wednesday.

"Sentiment is not good, with the problems over the loan, and we have seen heavy dollar demand from corporates recently," said a dealer at a European bank in Jakarta.

Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Wednesday he was optimistic a meeting with the Paris Club to seek the rescheduling of $2.1 billion in debt would go ahead on April 12 and 13 as planned.

"There will, however, be a problem if the Paris Club meeting is delayed," he said.

Bank Indonesia's weekly auction of one-month SBI certificates on Wednesday resulted in a weighted average interest rate of 10.91 percent. The central bank has been cutting rates in recent months, and dealers said the unchanged rate reflected concerns at the rupiah's fall.-Reuters