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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended weaker than its previous close, but unchanged from its open on Thursday amid light demand for dollars towards close of trade, dealers said.

They said a state-run bank bought dollars, probably to fund imports.

The rupee ended at 43.6125/6175 per dollar compared to Wednesday's 43.5975/6125.

It had opened on Thursday at 43.61/6175.

Dealers said trade was quiet during the day and corporate flows were negligible.

Forward premiums stayed bid amid month-end rollovers and paying (sell-buy swaps) to fund short-term resource requirements, dealers said.

"There is some confusion over the month-end settlement dates and that is causing more paying," a dealer with a private bank said. The six-month premium ended little changed from its previous close at 2.86 percent.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: The Indonesian rupiah edged lower on Thursday, with the market slightly nervous over news President Abdurrahman Wahid had cancelled meetings for a health check, but dealers said little movement was seen ahead of the weekend.

By 0915 GMT the rupiah was quoted at 7,470/7,485 to the dollar versus 7,430/7,435 in late local trade on Wednesday.

"There was a bit of nervousness over the president's health but we are still staying fairly stable and there won't be a lot of change ahead of the weekend," said a dealer at a European bank in Jakarta.

Wahid, 59, was been advised by palace doctors to rest after he stayed up with friends overnight, palace official Dharmawan Ronodipuro old Reuters.

"Basically they ran through the routine process such as checking his blood pressure," he said. "Gus Dur (Wahid) is not being taken to a hospital, he's just resting at the palace."

Wahid cancelled appointments with bureaucrats and his supreme advisory council.

Wahid is half blind, has suffered two strokes in recent years and needs help walking. But since winning power in October he has maintained a gruelling schedule, touring more than 20 countries.

The government has said it expects the rupiah to strengthen to 7,000 and beyond, but the currency has shown few signs of upward momentum, despite an easing of fears of a military coup.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar ended unmoved against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as the central bank actively bought greenbacks to counterbalance downward pressure on the local unit amid political tensions with rival China.

CLOSE: unchanged at T$30.785 to the U.S. dollar. On the smaller Cosmos market, the Taiwan unit finished at T$30.786 against its close of T$30.795 on Wednesday.

TURNOVER THROUGH DEALERS: modest at US$398.5 million, well below US$547.5 million on Wednesday.

The Taiwan dollar opened a touch lower at T$30.787 to the U.S. dollar and was in a see-saw trade throughout the session. Cosmos turnover fell to US$67 million from Wednesday's US$139 million.

Dealers said the central bank was determined to defend the Taiwan currency at the T$30.8 level a move which slowed U.S. dollar demand from importers, resulting in shrinking turnover.

Dealers said since China issued a "white paper" on Monday saying Taiwan could not indefinitely delay talks on unification with the mainland, importers and local residents have rushed to buy U.S. dollars.

They nonetheless noted strong U.S. selling from the central bank at around T$30.798, which kept the Taiwan unit from falling further.

"The central bank has aggressively defended the Taiwan dollar from depreciating below T$30.8. Importers are no longer in a rush to buy U.S. dollars," said one dealer at a domestic bank.

Another dealer said the central bank usually does not allow a sharp decline of the Taiwan dollar at times of political uncertainty.

Dealers said foreign funds continued to pour into the island's stock market, buying a net T$699 million on Thursday following T$764 million on Wednesday, which lent some support to the Taiwan currency.

"The Taiwan dollar is likely to rebound if the stocks stabilise," said another dealer.

Dealers saw a T$30.75-T$30.8 trading range for Friday.-Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan closed lower against the dollar on Thursday due to technical selling after gains in the past two weeks, dealers said.

The yuan ended at 8.2780 to one U.S. dollar from 8.2770 on Wednesday after moving in a range of 8.2772 and 8.2785.

"The yuan's fall today was purely a technical correction," said a local bank dealer.

The yuan has risen in the last two weeks, driven by expectations of good foreign trade data, dealers said.

China's exports surged 47.8 percent year-on-year to $16.8 billion in January, producing a trade surplus of $1.5 billion.

Dealers said the yuan was likely to move in a narrow range of 8.2770 and 8.2780 in the short term.

The yuan closed higher against the Japanese yen at 7.3898 to 100 yen compared with 7.3910 on Wednesday.

It ended marginally higher against the Hong Kong dollar at 1.0630 to HK$1.0 from 1.0633.-Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won ended weaker against the greenback on Thursday on dollar demand from importers and banks settling contracts for foreign investors' recent sales of local stocks, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,140.5 compared with Wednesday's close of 1,135.3.

It opened at 1,137.0 and dropped to 1,141.4 in late morning trade on the back of the dollar's bullishness versus the yen."As the dollar/yen was well-bid at around 111 yen, there was little dollar-selling interest spotted in the local currency market," said a city bank dealer.

Dealers said the market saw an inflow of more than $70 million from the recent sales of local stocks by foreign investors.

Oil refiners and other importers also bought dollars estimated at $50 million.

But the dollar/won was pushed back to the 1,137 won level in afternoon trade as players eased positions after the IMF's departing managing director for Asia-Pacific Hubert Neiss said Asian nations should not resist currency appreciation pressures.

Neiss told a conference in Hong Kong that large current account surpluses are inevitably putting upward pressure on Asian currencies and it was useless to try and target any specific exchange rate level.

South Korea's monetary authorities have frequently said they would intervene in the market with "smoothing out" operations if the dollar/won rate became too volatile.

The dollar regained ground and went back to the 1,140 won level later in the day as the monetary authorities stepped in, dealers said.

The Bank of Korea said on Thursday South Korea's provisional current account surplus for 1999 stood at $25 billion, down from $40.56 billion in 1998.

The central bank attributed the falls to increased demand for imports, spurred by the recovering domestic economy.

Dealers said the U.S. unit could come under pressure on exporter offers toward the end of the month if the dollar/yen pair remained stable.

The won is expected to move between 1,137 and 1,145 on Friday.

The six-month non-deliverable forward (NDF) won was quoted at 1,140/41 versus 1,136/37 late on Wednesday.

The one-year won stood at 1,144/45 against 1,139/41.-Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso ended on Thursday at its lowest closing level in almost three months as investor sentiment weakened due to a downgrade in the country's sovereign risk outlook, dealers said.

Dealers said the move by Thomson Financial BankWatch to change its sovereign outlook from positive to stable dragged down the local currency which was already under pressure from regional currencies and domestic concerns.

The peso ended the week at 40.87, the lowest closing level since 40.935 in November 30. It closed at 40.70 on Wednesday. The local currency market will be closed on Friday for a holiday to celebrate the people's power revolution of 1986. "The downgrade affected the confidence level which was already low to begin with," a dealer with a local bank said.

Thomson Financial BankWatch said on Wednesday it was changing its outlook on the Philippines to stable from positive due to the country's lacklustre economic performance and large fiscal burden.

Stock market traders also blamed the move for the drop in the share market on Thursday. The 33-share main index fell 34.12 points, or 1.87 percent, to end at 1,794.81.-Reuters