Won at one-year low

Most offshore funds stepped up the pace of reducing exposure to emerging Asian currencies on spot and non-deliverable forward (NDF) markets on Thursday, pushing the South Korean won to a one-year low and giving the Taiwan dollar its worst day in more than a decade.
As nervousness continued, many regional central banks tried to limit weakness in their currencies, but investors took their intervention as providing chances to sell local currencies on rallies. "There is a risk of further downside for AXJ FX" after the Fed moves, said Suresh Kumar Ramanathan, regional rates and foreign exchange strategist for CIMB Investment Bank in Kuala Lumpur.
The won hit a one-year low against the dollar as offshore investors such as hedge funds and real money accounts, as well as importers, sold the South Korean currency. Foreign exchange authorities were spotted selling dollars to protect 1,180 per dollar with senior officials' calls for close monitoring, dealers said, but the local unit is seen falling further.
The won fell to as soft as 1,180.1 versus the greenback, the weakest since early September last year. Technically, it has room to weaken further, probably to 1,190, at the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of its appreciation between May 2010 and August this year.
The spot won closed the domestic trade at 1,179.8, but one-month dollar/won non-deliverable forward surged to as high as 1,199.0. The Taiwan dollar saw the worst day in more than 10 years as foreign investors dumped the local currency. The currency shed 1.4 percent against the US dollar, the largest daily percentage fall since May 2001, according to Reuters calculations.
One-month dollar/rupiah NDF jumped to a near 2-year high as offshore players kept buying it amid insufficient liquidity in onshore markets, dealers say. The Philippine peso touched a six-month low against the dollar as model accounts and real money funds sold the local currency. The central bank was spotted selling dollars to limit the peso's weakness, around 43.70, dealers said.