TOKYO: The dollar rose on Tuesday, with emerging market currencies under fresh pressure as dealers bet the US Federal Reserve will soon begin winding down its vast stimulus programme.
With eyes on the release Wednesday of minutes from the Fed's most recent policy meeting, expectations are that its year-long bond-buying, which has helped fuel a global equity and forex rally, could be coming to an end.
In early Asian trade the greenback bought 97.82 yen, against 97.56 yen in New York on Monday.
The euro was quoted at $1.3335, against $1.3334 in New York, while the single currency was also trading at 130.45 yen, from 130.09 yen.
The dollar was also at 63.135 Indian rupees -- just below its record high 63.22 rupees seen in Monday's trade -- while also buying 10,495 Indonesian rupiah, a four-year high, from 10,419 rupiah. And the Thai baht was at a one-year low of 31.61 to the dollar, compared with31.34. baht.
The rupee is Asia's worst-performing major currency this year, falling 2.3 percent on Monday as the Fed's wind-down added to mounting concerns about the state of India's economy.
"Weakness in the Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah has been particularly pronounced following a continued sell-off in Indian government bonds and a much larger-than-expected Indonesian second quarter current account deficit," Barclays Capital said in a note to clients.
The Fed's $85-billion-a-month easing policy saw a flood of cash into developing economies when it was launched last year as dealers sought out places with higher interest rates for better returns on their investments than in the West.
However, with the US economy showing signs of improvement, market-watchers say the central bank will likely slow down its bond-buying, which in turn will lead to higher rates and home and a repatriation of the money from emerging markets.
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