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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended slightly firmer on Wednesday in ranged trading amid dollar sales by exporters, dealers said.

The rupee ended at 43.5975/6025 per dollar against the previous close of 43.61/6125.

"It was a quiet day with trading stuck in the 43.60-43.61 per dollar band," a dealer said.

"There were (dollar) supplies but there was steady demand from some state-run banks at lower levels." -Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: Indonesia's rupiah strengthened on Wednesday on offshore dollar selling amid expectations of an easing in political tension.

"The rupiah briefly strengthened to hit 7,290 earlier in the day amid talk some Japanese firms planned to sell large amount of dollars. But it failed to sustain the gains as the dollar was well bid at the 7,300 area," a European bank dealer said.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,300/7,350 against the dollar compared with 7,410/7,430 in late local trade on Tuesday.

Interest on benchmark one-month central bank certificates (SBIs) fell to 11.0 percent in Wednesday's weekly auction from 11.04 percent last week, while the three-month SBI fell to 11.02 percent from 11.41 percent last month.

Another dealer said many players had already unwound their long dollar positions built at the height of the country's political uncertainty last week.

The rupiah weakened through 7,500 last week amid concerns over souring relations between the government and the military.

Strong dollar selling emerged after the market broke through 7,350, driving the currency to test 7,300.

Some dealers said they recommended clients go long at 7,300 and put stops at 7,250.

Dealers, however, said volume remain low.

They said political tension surrounding the souring relationship between President Abdurrahman Wahid and security minister Wiranto was expected to ease after Wahid said during an overseas tour that he would pardon his general for any involvement in the violence which swept East Timor last year.

But Wahid is standing by his demand that Wiranto, the former military chief, quit cabinet after being implicated in the violence by U.N. and Indonesian inquiries.

Wiranto has defied repeated demands from Wahid, overseas on official business, to quit.

Dealers said the IMF's approval for a $5 billion three-year loan package to Indonesia late last week as part of its multi-billion dollar rescue for the crisis-hit country, also helped boost sentiment.

Bank Indonesia said 5.2 trillion rupiah in funds matured on Wednesday. The benchmark interbank overnight rate hovered around 9.5 percent for local banks and around 9..375 percent for foreign banks.-Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won closed firmer against the dollar on Wednesday as dollar unwinding continued in the wake of foreign stock buying and the yen began rebounding versus the US unit, dealers said.

The government intervened to stop the won's steep rise from around the 1,129 level, but state-run banks' dollar buying was not big enough, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,123.0 per dollar against Tuesday's close of 1,129.3.

It opened at a low of 1,130.5 and touched a high of 1,122.4."The market is poised to be swamped with dollars as foreign investors will soon convert dollars into won to settle their heavy share buying in recent days," said a foreign bank dealer.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 144.03 billion won of listed shares and 35 billion won of Kosdaq over-the-counter shares on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, foreign net equity buying, including from Kosdaq trading, was about 360 billion won.

"It looks now obvious that the government's intervention to halt the won's rise is not going to work given the trend of active foreign stock buying," said a local bank dealer.

Dealers said the authorities would make efforts to defend the 1,120 level on Thursday.

"The won/dollar rate would range from 1,120 and 1,125 on the assumption of government intervention," the local bank dealer said. The dollar was at 108.75/80 yen, compared with 109.33/36 in late Tokyo trading on Tuesday.

"The yen's rebound also helped fan dollar unloading in the Korean market," said the foreign bank dealer.

The won/yen rate was quoted at 10.31/33 won, against 10.36 on Tuesday morning.

On non-deliverable forward trading, the six-month won was quoted at 1,126.5/28.0, while the one-year won was 1,131.5/33.5.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso PHP closed firmer against the dollar on Wednesday, supported by inflows for an equity investment, dealers said.

Firmer regional currencies and sporadic dollar demand from local firms also kept the peso below the 40.50 level.

The peso ended at 40.46, near the day's high of 40.425. It had opened at its day-low of 40.51 against the close of 40.49 on Tuesday. Turnover jumped to $260.5 million from $230.9 million.

Most of the dollar sellers were foreign banks, a local trader said.

A dealer at a foreign bank said the dollar inflows were meant for an equity investment in cash-strapped Philippine retail firm Uniwide Holdings. Uniwide on Monday said French retailer Casino group would take a controlling stake in its warehouse club operations. It did not say how much Casino would be investing in Uniwide.

BusinessWorld newspaper reported on Wednesday the investment by the Casino group would be about $110 million.

Dealers said the peso would continue its upward bias on Thursday if regional currencies remain stable.

"Some are selling to cut losses, because they bought dollars at 40.50/40.60 range last week because of the (US rate hike)," one dealer said.

Dealers placed the trading range on Thursday at 40.40 to 40.60.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar closed sharply higher on Wednesday as foreign equity funds, ignoring the greenback's strength overseas, purchased the local unit to invest in the island's buoyant stock market.

CLOSE: T$30.637 to the US dollar, advancing from Tuesday's T$30.734 finish.

TURNOVER THROUGH DEALERS: Very heavy at US$837.5 million, compared with Tuesday's US$406 million

Dealers estimated foreign funds remitted at least US$300 million into Taiwan on Wednesday following some US$250 million worth of remittance on Tuesday.

"Except for the last-minute intervention, the central bank was relatively quiet during the day's trade, meaning the central bank likely would allow the Taiwan dollar to dance to the foreign funds' tune tomorrow," one dealer at a domestic bank said.

On the smaller Cosmos exchange, the Taiwan dollar ended at T$30.613 against Tuesday's T$30.72 finish. Cosmos turnover expanded to US$185 million from Tuesday's US$85 million.-Reuters