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Indonesian rupiah

JAKARTA: Indonesia's rupiah was little changed in narrow range trading on Monday as players stuck to the sidelines ahead of Tuesday's US Fed meeting.

Dealers said the trading range further narrowed to 7,440-7,450 against the dollar, with few fresh leads to move the market.

The rupiah was quoted at 7,440/7,460 to the dollar, from 7,435/7,445 in late local trade on Friday.

"Players are reluctant to open new positions as they watch further developments regarding the Astra stake sale, corporate dollar demand ahead of the fiscal year end and the US Fed meeting tomorrow," one European bank dealer said.

She said players were also watching the latest political developments in Taiwan.

Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is due on Saturday to name the the winning bidder for a stake of about 40 percent in Astra, one of the jewels in IBRA's portfolio.

There was a large concentration of corporate dollar demand around the 7,400 area for foreign debt repayments ahead of the end of the fiscal year on March 31, the dealer said.

The swaps market was also quiet on Monday after unusually sharp fluctuations last week.

Another dealer said there had been no signs of large foreign exchange deals either on the spot or forward markets ahead of the deadline for the Astra International sale.

The winner of the Astra stake sale has to submit the payment, worth around $500 million, to the government later this week. The money is to be used for the current budget.

Bank Indonesia said 6.5 trillion rupiah in funds matured early on Monday. Overnight rates still hovered at 9.25 percent for foreign banks and 9.5 percent for local banks. -Reuters

Chinese yuan

SHANGHAI: China's yuan eased slightly against the dollar on Monday, the first day of trade following opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian's victory in Taiwan's presidential election.

Dealers said they saw no signs of central bank intervention, although dollar demand strengthened as some cautious Taiwan investors were buying the US currency.

The yuan ended at 8.2786 to one US dollar from 8.2781 on Friday after moving in a narrow range of 8.2782 to 8.2788, compared with 8.2776 and 8.2809 on Friday.

Saturday's victory by Chen, head of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, heightened investor concern that Taiwan-China relations could worsen.

"Bids for dollars increased quite a bit today compared with the usual daily average," said a dealer at a foreign bank.

"But they were not in a jittery buying style."

Dealers said the market expected no immediate military conflict with Taiwan, but the longer term political risks might spur mounting dollar demand.

The Beijing government, which made clear in the last days of the election campaign that it did not want Chen to win and issued a series of bellicose threats, said it would wait and see what the president-elect said and did.

It also said Beijing was willing to hold talks based on the "one China" principle.

"Taiwan investors may settle earnings into dollars more than before if the tension worsens," a dealer at a major local bank said. "But the tightly controlled market is unlikely to fluctuate too much."

Dealers said they expected the yuan to weaken further, testing 8.2800 in the near term before the People's Bank of China, the central bank, steps in.

The yuan closed lower against the Japanese yen at 7.7660 to 100 yen from 7.6911 on Thursday. It ended a touch firmer at 1.0627 against the Hong Kong dollar compared with 1.0628. -Reuters

S Korean won

SEOUL: South Korea's won closed slightly lower on Monday as heavy foreign buying of local stocks helped pare early losses from dollar buying by state-run banks, dealers said.

The won closed at 1,118.0 to the dollar, compared with Friday's 1,117.3 close.

It opened at an intraday low of 1,119.5 and touched a high at 1,117.6. On the Korea Stock Exchange, foreign investors bought an estimated net 134.1 billion won worth of local stocks though the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended 0.59 percent lower at 850.51.

The won opened sharply lower than its Friday close on dollar bids from state-run banks, which dealers said bought dollars out of concern for the yen's weakening against the won.

In the afternoon, the won stayed mostly to a range of 1,117.6-1,117.9 won per dollar in dull trade.

The yen was quoted at 106.58/68 to the dollar late on Monday, compared with 105.93/96 late on Friday in Tokyo.

South Korea and Japan compete fiercely in their major export markets and the falling value of the yen against the won has unnerved the South Korean government.

In overseas non-deliverable forward trading, the six-month won stood at 1119.0/19.5 per dollar late on Monday versus 1118/19 on Friday. The one-year won was quoted at 1121.0/22.5 versus 1121/23. -Reuters

Philippine peso

MANILA: The Philippine peso finished steady against the dollar in a lightly traded market on Monday as players waited for an expected 25-basis-point increase in US interest rates at a crucial Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday.

The one-day holiday in Japan also contributed to the lacklustre trading in the peso/dollar, since traders also look for direction from dollar/yen trades.

The peso closed at 40.96 against Friday's 40.963. It traded within a tight band of 40.94 to 40.97 as volume thinned to a nearly three-month low of $87 million compared with Friday's $153.50 million. "The market's waiting for the Fed. Most banks are long on dollars that's why even if there is some dollar buying, the market is well covered," said a trader from a local bank.

However, another trader said there was little dollar demand and supply, with most corporate clients also staying out of the market.

Although a 25-basis-point hike in US interest rates is already discounted by the market, banks were unwilling to cut their long dollar positions

Regional markets were softer against the dollar on cautious trade after an opposition win in Taiwanese elections over the weekend.

"Banks are holding back on dollar sales...They're waiting for the (regional) market to calm down," one trader said.

The peso is expected to range from 40.88 to 40.98 to the dollar but most traders believe the peso should hold fort at the 40.90 level.-Reuters

Taiwanese dollar

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar ended softer against the US dollar on Monday as panic greenback buying following the ruling Nationalist Party's presdiential election defeat knocked the local unit lower. The Taiwan dollar lost ground immediately after trade began, before the central bank launched its defence, touching as low as T$30.799.

Dealers said the central bank intervened heavily to keep the Taiwan dollar above the T$30.8 psychological threshold.

Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party won Saturday's presidential election, raising the possibility of intensified tensions with Beijing, which has reviled Chen as a proponent of Taiwan's final independence from China.

"We saw panicky US dollar buying today as people were worried that Chen Shui-bian's victory might lead to intensified tensions with communist China," said one dealer at a US bank.

Central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said on Sunday domestic and foreign banks licensed for foreign currency business had enough US dollars to meet demand and urged the public not to panic.

The central bank renewed its pledge to intervene to maintain order in the foreign exchange market if it were disrupted by "seasonal and occasional factors".

Perng said foreign funds had no reason to pull out of Taiwan, citing sound technology- and export-driven fundamentals.

The Taiwan dollar slumped last week as Beijing, alarmed at the prospect of a Chen victory, intensified threats against Taiwan.

"The central bank has decided to fully supply demand for the US dollar," said another dealer.

For Tuesday, dealers sadi they expected the Taiwan dollar to test support at T$30.8 again.-Reuters