SINGAPORE: The South Korean won and the Taiwan dollar led gains among emerging Asian currencies on Monday as the yen's rebound caused investors to cover short positions in the currencies of Japan's export competitors.
The yen rebounded after the United States said it would watch Japan's policies to ensure it was not manipulating its currency.
Regional currencies also found support from the Chinese yuan hitting a record against the dollar.
But most emerging Asian currencies gave up some of their initial gains as weaker-than-expected Chinese growth data added to concerns stoked by US indicators about the global economic outlook.
The won rose on demand from exporters for settlements and stop-loss dollar selling despite dollar demand linked to local companies' dividend payments to foreign shareholders.
The won's appreciation helped the Taiwan dollar advance in thin trading, traders said.
Their gains came as the yen rose after the US Treasury Department on Friday said in a semi-annual report on currency practices of major trading partners that it would press Japan to adhere to the commitment it made in February as a member of the Group of Seven and Group of 20 nations to let the market determine exchange rates.
South Korea and Taiwan are seen as major victims of the yen's weakness resulting from the Bank of Japan's bold monetary policy easing to boost growth and inflation, analysts and traders have said.
Still, investors were reluctant to add more bullish bets in those two units and their Asian peers as China's economic recovery unexpectedly stumbled in the first three months of 2013 with slowing factory output and investment spending.
The World Bank also scaled back slightly its 2013 growth forecasts for emerging East Asia and warned about possible over-heating in the region's larger economies.
"It is difficult to be more positive on emerging Asian currencies, given signs that the US and China economies are losing steam," said Jeong My-young, Samsung Futures' research head in Seoul.
"The won is unlikely to extend gains as it rose more than the yen today. That will cement worries about a weaker yen's impact on Korean fundamentals," she added.
The won has lost 4.5 percent against the dollar so far this year, while the yen has dropped 11.6 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
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