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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended steady on Friday amid light corporate flows that kept trade restricted to a tight range, dealers said.

There was small import demand from a north-based corporate but export sales ensured the rupee did not weaken, they said.

The rupee was quoted at 43.62/625 per dollar at close compared with Thursday's 43.625/63.

Dealers said much of the activity was in the short-term swap market where the high call money rates in the early part of the day resulted in heavy paying (sell-buy swaps).

"Even state-run banks, which are traditionally lenders in call, were paying today in cash-spot," a dealer with a private bank said.

Call rates shot up to 20 percent on the reporting day on heavy demand from borrowers and a shortage of funds created by outflows into Thursday's bond auction and banks' investment in securities.

Cash-over-spot premiums (swap difference for the Friday to Tuesday period) went up to five paise (0.05 rupees) per dollar, dealers said.

Dealers said forward premiums were active but ranged as banks rolled over near-term paid positions.

The six-month premium ended at an annualised 2.75 percent compared with Thursday's 2.78.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: Indonesia's rupiah firmed on Friday as worries over souring relations between the military and the government eased further following comments from the head of the army urging General Wiranto to quit from cabinet.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,275/7,7,305 against the dollar compared with 7,290/7,310 in late local trade on Thursday.

"Comments by the army chief help boost sentiment as it gives a clear sign, for the first time, that the army as an institution is fully behind (President) Abdurrahman Wahid, not behind General Wiranto," one foreign bank dealer said.

Army chief General Tyasno Sudarto told reporters in the west Java capital city of Bandung on Friday that Wiranto had to follow orders, the first senior military officer to publicly say Wiranto should step down.

Dealers said offshore players, unlike onshore, had been very worried about the possibility of a coup amid souring relations between Wahid and the military, prompting them to build long dollar positions at the height of the stand-off last week.

The official Antara news agency said on Friday a group of unnamed generals had pledged their loyalty to Wahid and press Wiranto to resign as coordinating minister for politics and security affairs before the president returned.

President Wahid was scheduled to return on Sunday from an overseas trip.

Players are still waiting to see if Wiranto will drop his defiance and comply with Wahid's order to quit the cabinet after separate U.N. and Indonesian inquiries implicated him in the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's August independence vote.

Bank Indonesia said 5.8 trillion rupiah in funds matured early on Friday.

The benchmark interbank overnight rate hovered around 9.5 percent for local banks and around 9.375 percent for foreign banks.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar finished slightly weaker on Friday as the central bank bought greenbacks to counterbalance heavy inflows from foreign equity funds, dealers said.

CLOSE: T$30.625 to the US dollar, declining from on Thursday's close at T$30.62 despite touching an intraday high of T$30.588

TURNOVER THROUGH DEALERS: Fairly active at US$488 million, but down from Thursday's very heavy US$707 million. Some US$64 million in turnover came in the final 15 minutes of trade thanks to last-minute central bank intervention, dealers said.

Dealers said the central bank's intervention could be aimed at reserving some room for gains when major exporters reopen for business after Lunar New Year holidays.

The Taiwan unit continued to enjoy solid support from persistent inflows of foriegn equity funds.

Foreign funds were net buyers of a hefty T$11.127 billion in Taiwan stocks on Friday, accumulating a net T$31.078 billion in local equities since the stock market resumed post-Lunar New Year trade on Wednesday. "Foreign funds have been flowing into Taiwan non-stop in the past few days, and this led the Taiwan dollar past resistance at T$30.6," said one dealer at a foreign bank.

"But many banks covered US dollar shorts after receiving calls from the central bank yesterday expressing concern for the Taiwan dollar's rise, and the central bank did not spare any effort in intervention today," he said.

Dealers said the central bank was wary of possible stop-loss selling by exporters resuming business in the Year of the Dragon because the Taiwan dollar had risen T$0.15 since post-holiday trading began on Tuesday.

A strong January trade surplus also underpinned the Taiwan dollar, dealers said. The finance ministry said on Friday January exports rose a solid 21.4 percent on the year while imports rose 18 percent.

The resulting US$933.6 million trade surplus was far above the average $571 million surplus predicted in a Reuters poll.

On the smaller Cosmos exchage, the Taiwan unit finished at T$30.618, sliding from on Thursday's T$30.605 close. Cosmos turnover slipped to US$121 million from US$196 million on Thursday.-Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won surged to its highest close in more than two years on Friday as steady foreign buying of local stocks sparked dollar unloading despite intervention, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,115.3 per dollar against on Thursday's close of 1,120.8.

"The close was the highest since November 26, 1997, when the won ended at 1,110," said a local bank dealer.

The previous closing high for 2000 was 1,120.0 on January 29.

On the day, the won ranged from 1,123.0 to 1,114.0. "Foreign buying of local stocks is the main theme this week and will likely be next week, too," said a foreign bank dealer.

Foreign stock buying, including on the Kosdaq over-the-counter trading, was estimated at a net 262 billion won on Friday, brokers said.

That was on top of some 850 billion won worth of net foreign stock buying in the past three days.

The government bought about $200 million through state banks to limit the won's steep rise but failed to kill short-dollar sentiment, dealers said.

"The government will be tempted to refrain from buying dollars because dollar supplies are just too heavy," said a local bank dealer. "It may want to intervene when foreign stock buying weakens in order for its action to have more impact."Dealers forecast the won/dollar rate would move between 1,100 and 1,130 next week.

"Market players are mindful of the possibility of strong government intervention next week if foreign equity buying loses steam," said the foreign bank dealer. "That's why dollar sales were moderate today."

The government has said the won's steep appreciation was not desirable for the country's exporters because it erodes their price competitiveness in overseas markets.

It has repeatedly vowed action if necessary to stabilise the currency market.

Brokers said foreign investors are buying local stocks in the belief that shares are undervalued with the main exchange below the 1,000 point level and on expectations of foreign exchange gains stemming from the won's appreciation.

Ten interbank dealers and economists polled by Reuters in January on average forecast the won would strengthen to 1,080 won per dollar by the end of June and to 1,034 by the end of 2000.

Analysts cited robust foreign direct and equity investment as a main factor. The yen fell to 109.19/29 per dollar against 108.50/53 in late Tokyo trading on Thursday.

The yen's weakness should be a factor sponsoring the won's depreciation, but dealers said the yen's movement was largely being ignored.

In non-deliverable forward trading, the six-month won closed at 1,115.5/17.0 against 1,121/23 at on Thursday's close, while the one-year won was 1,120/22 against 1,126.5/28.5.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso ended lower against the dollar in Friday trade, weighed down by the Thai baht and some commercial demand for the foreign currency.

After trading in a five-centavo range, the peso settled at 40.44 to the dollar from its previous closing of 40.39. Turnover fell to $161.70 million from $237.30 million on Thursday.

"(The peso) just aligned itself with regional currencies, particularly the baht," said one trader.

The Thai baht was quoted 37.45/37.60 to the dollar in late Friday trade from 37.35/37.40 late on Thursday following reports that the sale of two nationalised banks had been delayed.

The currencies of Thailand and the Philippines follow each other because they have the same export markets.

Traders said they expected the peso to be rangebound next week because of scant dollar demand from companies.

"Imports are usually slow in February," said a second trader. Philippine manufacturing firms are dependent on imports for their raw materials.

Traders said the peso may move between 40.35 and 40.65 to the dollar next week.-Reuters