Asian currencies mostly steady

The Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso fell on Thursday as investors trimmed riskier positions after a sell-off in US stocks and bonds, but Asia's resilient equity markets underpinned most regional currencies.
The high-yielding rupiah found support near 8,970 per dollar after slipping 0.8 percent or as far as 9,010 per dollar in early trade, while the Philippine peso, another high-yielder, pared earlier losses and steadied around 46.1 per dollar. "The market is cautious in the wake of the development in the United States, which might affect other currencies as well," said a dealer in Jakarta.
"But the underlying sentiment remains bullish on the rupiah and people are basically looking for entry levels to go into it," he said, predicting the rupiah would trade between 8,900 and 9,100 in the next two months.
The high-yielders have stabilised after selling earlier this month provoked by concerns about rising global interest rates. "There will always be bouts of volatility and shakeouts, but appetite for yield remains very strong and will continue supporting the currencies amid continued yuan appreciation," said Sue Trinh, currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
Philippine Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said on Thursday that the peso was likely to stay strong, helped by huge inflows of remittances. The peso has gained about 6.4 percent against the dollar so far this year, trailing only the Indian rupee in Asia.
The Malaysian ringgit fell 0.4 percent to 3.445 per dollar, but most Asian currencies were supported by the region's resilient stock markets, with MSCI's broadest index of shares outside of Japan hitting a new high. The Chinese yuan eased to about 7.62 per dollar after hitting post-revaluation highs for six sessions in a row.
Wu Xiaoling, a central bank deputy governor, on Thursday reaffirmed Beijing's policy of allowing the yuan to rise steadily, fending off US pressure for faster appreciation. "In our view, a reserve requirement hike and an interest rate hike are possible any time, though we think that China will likely keep to the same quantum of hikes as in previous rounds of tightening," Irene Cheung, a currency strategist at ABN Amro, said in a note.
The Taiwan dollar hovered near 32.95 per US dollar after briefly hitting a three-week high of 32.875 ahead of a central bank meeting that is widely expected to result in another interest rate rise. Taiwan's central bank looks set to raise interest rates by at least 12.5 basis points later on Thursday - its 12th rise in a row - in a bid to slow capital outflows and support the currency, according to a Reuters poll.
The South Korean won rose against the dollar on Thursday, helped by exporter deals and on expectations of demand related to the government's sale of a stake in Woori Financial Group. The won also hit a new high versus the yen in nearly a decade as investors maintained their appetite for higher-yielding assets funded by the low-yielding Japanese currency. The won was last quoted at 926.7/7.3 per dollar, compared to its previous closing bid of 927.5.