SINGAPORE: The Indonesian rupiah slid on Monday on fears of further outflows ahead of a government debt auction, while other emerging Asian currencies were mixed as authorities took a breather from repeated interventions.
The rupiah's indicative price softened 0.3 percent to 9,660 to the dollar on exchange pages, but its real market price was a weaker 9,880-9,900 quoted against corporate dollar demand, dealers said.
Indonesia's debt also fell, with yields on 10-year bonds hitting 5.263 percent, their highest since Dec. 12, and the five-year yield at 4.713 percent, also highest since Jan. 2.
The country aims to raise 7 trillion rupiah ($726.52 million) from a bond auction on Tuesday.
"It looks like investors could be more cautious than the recent auctions, on the back of recent weakening of the rupiah," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
The rupiah has slid 0.3 percent against the dollar so far this year after being the worst performing emerging Asian currency in 2012 with a loss of nearly 6 percent, Thomson Reuters' data showed.
Worries about the country's current account deficit and inflation, as well as a lack of dollar liquidity, have been putting pressure on the rupiah and curbing foreign investors' appetite for Indonesian assets.
The future value for the rupiah has plunged in offshore forward markets, indicating a rush by foreigners to hedge their risks.
Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said he expected the rupiah to weaken this year on a wider current account deficit and uncertain global economic situation, adding its average exchange rate will be at 9,300-9,700.
The central bank has been spotted selling dollars to support the Indonesian currency, dealers said. On Monday, it provided dollar liquidity between 9,655 and 9,680, they added.
Bank Indonesia also expressed determination to stabilise the currency market.
"Bank Indonesia will always ready to intervene if rupiah depreciates excessively from its fundamental," Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution told parliament.
Still, some analysts and dealers expect Tuesday's bond auction to attract decent foreign interest, given higher yields.
The rupiah rebounded in the forwards market with one-month dollar/rupiah non-deliverable forwards down 0.4 percent to 9,890.
"By looking at the correction last week and not much trading volume, it means that there were not a lot of foreign outflows," said Handy Yunianto, debt market analyst at Mandiri Sekuritas in Jakarta.
Foreign investors reduced Indonesian bond holdings by 1.29 trillion rupiah in the first four days of last week, but that compared with average daily bond market trading volume of 9.5 trillion rupiah in 2012.
"I think demand at the auction tomorrow will be big," said Yuniato, adding the valuation should be "interesting" with the recent correction.
WON
The won eased on dollar demand from local importers and as some offshore funds booked profits from the South Korean currency.
Investors stayed wary of possible intervention by the foreign exchange authorities.
Still, the won remained in a bullish trend, dealers said.
"Investors appeared to still hold dollar-short positions, but they did not cover those positions actively. I don't think they will aggressively unwind those positions unless the won loses its trend," said a foreign bank dealer in Seoul.
PHILIPPINE PESO
The Philippine peso eased as investors covered dollar-short positions on caution over further central bank interventions.
But real money funds and interbank speculators looked for chances to buy the peso on dips, limiting its downside.
BAHT
The Thai baht edged up on stock inflows and exporters but was also called by intervention worries.
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