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Indian rupee

BOMBAY: The Indian rupee ended off lows on Friday in ranged trade, while forward premiums ended slightly higher amid some month-end rollovers, dealers said.

The rupee ended at 43.6175/6225 per dollar against the previous close of 43.6125/6175, but off lows of 43.6325 hit earlier in the day.

"There was some dollar demand early on from the State Bank of India (SBI) and other state-run banks which took it to 43.6325 levels. But they kind of disappeared suddenly forcing the rest of the market to come out of their long positions," a dealer at a US bank said.

"It is the month end and its normal for the state-run banks to have some customer demand," he said.

Dealers said dollar supplies continued to be steady and mainly from foreign funds' dollar sales and some stray direct investment flows.

Foreign funds have provided a considerable amount of dollars to the market this month, they said.

Data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed that foreign funds' net investments totalled $558.7 million in on February.

Forward premiums ended slightly up on month-end paying by corporates rolling over their contracts.

Dealers said a large financial services group also paid longer term premiums.

The six-month premium ended at an annualised 2.94 percent against 2.86 percent on Thursday.-Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan closed lower against the dollar on Friday as domestic banks sold the yuan on increased dollar demand from importers, dealers said.

Hong Kong newspaper reports that the government was considering allowing the yuan to move in a wider band had little impact on trading, they said.

The yuan ended at 8.2785 to one US dollar from 8.2780 on Thursday after moving in a range of 8.2780 and 8.2787.

"Domestic banks bought dollars as importers needed more foreign exchange due to the approach of the peak period for importing," a domestic bank dealer said.

March and April are traditionally periods of heavy imports following a lull during the Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell in February this year, dealers said.

Hong Kong newspapers said this week that China had signalled it would adopt a more flexible foreign exchange system by widening the trading band of the yuan in 1999.

A official of the central bank said the People's Bank of China was considering widending the band but had no timetable.

Despite on Friday's drop, dealers said the potential for the yuan to fall further was limited as the currency was supported by China's healthy trade surplus.

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 8.2780 and 8.2790 in the short term.

The yuan closed lower against the Japanese yen at 7.4800 to 100 yen compared with 7.3898 on Thursday.

It ended down against the Hong Kong dollar at 1.0636 to HK$1.0 from 1.0630.-Reuters

S.Korean won

SEOUL: The South Korean won ended stronger against the dollar on Friday as offshore dollar selling in anticipation of end-of-month exporter offers triggered interbank stop-loss sales, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,136.6 compared with on Thursday's close of 1,140.5.

It opened at 1,143.7 and moved between 1,136.0 and 1,145.0. "Interbank operators unwound their long dollar positions to stop losses after they saw offshore players turn to sell in mid-afternoon trade," said a local bank dealer.

Dealers said dollar selling interest was intensified as the dollar broke the near-term support level of 1,140 won to decline to 1,136.0.

The Korean currency opened sharply lower on offshore dollar buying in line with the yen's weakness and on the back of the government's will to curb the won's rise.

The commerce ministry said in a statement the government has made it a priority to stabilise the foreign exchange rate which has been the largest obstacle to exporters.

As part of its measures to achieve the nation's trade surplus target of $12 billion in 2000, it said the government would expand its coverage of exporter losses from volatile foreign exchange moves to smaller companies.

The ministry said South Korea's on January trade deficit, its first in 27 months, stood at a revised $391 million, from an earlier estimate of $400 million. Dealers said offshore players turned to sell dollars in afternoon trade as the US unit had come under pressure from an inflow of exporter offers.

"Under pressure from exporter sales, players will be reluctant to build up dollar positions next week unless the dollar/yen goes up to 120 yen level," said another local bank dealer.

Dealers said they expected the won to move between 1,132 and 1,137 on Monday.

The six-month non-deliverable forward (NDF) won was quoted at 1,141/42 versus 1,140/41 late on Thursday.

The one-year won stood at 1,143/45 against 1,144/45.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar ended firmer against the US dollar on Friday, bolstered by persistent foreign equity fund inflows and interbank operators paring their US dollar position ahead of a three-day weekend.

Dealers said interbank operators found it safer to unwind greenback positions after a two-day defence by the central bank to head off the impact of China's newly widened threat of force against the island.

CLOSE: Firmer at T$30.764 to the US dollar, up from on Thursday's T$30.785 finish. On the smaller Cosmos market, the Taiwan unit also closed higher at T$30.764 against on Thursday's T$30.786.

TURNOVER THROUGH DEALERS: relatively active at US$448 million, compared with on Thursday's US$398.5 million.Cosmos turnover swelled to US$118 million from on Thursday's US$67 million.

Dealers said steady inflows of foreign funds for local equities was the major factor driving the Taiwan dollar's rise.

As of end-January, foreign institutional investors had remitted a net US$19.718 billion into Taiwan's stock market, compared with US$17.903 billion as of end-December.

Since the beginning of on February, foreign funds have bought a net T$44.24 billion in Taiwan stocks. On Friday, they showed net buying of T$1.485 billion, building on net buying of T$699 million on Thursday.

Dealers said after two days of dogged central bank defence holding the Taiwan unit above T$30.8, interbank operators and some importers backed off from their speculative moves.

The central bank was believed to have stepped in on Wednesday and Thursday to defend the Taiwan dollar after Beijing announced on Monday that it could use military force against Taiwan if Taipei stalled reunification negotiations indefinitely.

Most interbank operators quickly moved to liquidate their US dollar position, thinking month-end routine demand for Taiwan dollar by exporters might drive the unit even firmer, dealers said.

Dealers expected rangebound trade for next week, seeing a range of T$30.7-T$30.8.-Reuters

Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: The Indonesian rupiah edged lower early on Friday after the local unit briefly fell through the psychological barrier of 7,500 in overseas trade overnight amid worries over President Abdurrahman Wahid's health.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,490/7,500 to the dollar compared with 7,470/7,485 late local trade on Thursday.

"Worries over the president's health keep sentiment weak on the rupiah. Recent falls in regional currencies also dampened sentiment," one European bank dealer said.

Another bank dealer said dollar selling orders this morning mostly came from Singapore players but said any further falls were seen limited.

"Any further falls in the rupiah was likely to be limited later today as some key players are already short on dollars following strong dollar selling pressure in local trade yesterday," the second dealer said.

She said foreign, joint venture banks and some influental bodies such as the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) unexpectedly sold significant amounts of dollars on Thursday despite worries over the president's health.

On Thursday, Wahid, 59, was advised by palace doctors to rest after he stayed up with friends the night before.

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.

Bank Indonesia said 4.9 trillion rupiah in funds matured early on Friday. The benchmark overnight interbank rate was largely stable, hovering mostly at 6.375 percent for foreign banks and 9.5 percent for local banks.-Reuters