SINGAPORE: The Thai baht gained on Monday after the finance minister said he did not see immediate need to implement extra measures to curb the currency for now, but it gave up much of its initial rise on worries of official involvement and profit-taking.
The Taiwan dollar hit a nine-week high and the South Korean won touched a one-month peak on demand from the countries' exporters for month-end settlements.
The baht advanced as investors covered short-positions as Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong on Friday welcomed the baht's dips last week and said there was no need to impose measures at the moment to hold it down.
But Kittirat said such action might be needed if the central bank does not cut interest rates, leaving investors vigilant for possible measures to stem the best-performing Asian currency so fvar this year.
"Investors tried to push dollar/baht down but quickly squared to make profits from here," said a senior Thai bank trader in Bangkok.
"The minister's comments will not stop the market from speculation. People are still focusing on if the BOT (Bank of Thailand) and the finance ministry will have any measures," said the trader, adding some investors are speculating that a rate cut is planned.
Thai government bonds rose with the five-year bond yield down to 2.95 percent, its lowest since November 2010, and the 10-year yield sliding to 3.43 percent.
Last week, the baht lost 2.6 percent against the dollar, according to Thomson Reuters data, as a finance ministry official said the country would cut the amount of amortised and inflation-linked bonds it offered to foreign investors to curb capital inflows.
Some analysts said the baht is vulnerable to more correction without further regulatory steps, with investors seeing its gains as excessive.
"The market has now basically turned in terms of view on the Thai baht. They now recognise that baht anywhere below (dollar/baht's) 29 is too strong," said Khoon Goh, senior currency strategist at ANZ in Singapore.
"Thai fundamentals are still pretty good. There is no doubt about that. But the currency has just moved too much within a short period of time. What we are looking at here is simply a correction," he said, adding the baht may suffer from more profit-booking and head to 29.70 per dollar.
The baht has appreciated 4.4 percent against the dollar so far this year.
WON
The won rose 0.5 percent to 1,106.6 per dollar, its strongest since March 27 as the yen gained and on demand from exporters for month-end settlements.
But the foreign exchange authorities were suspected of intervening to limit the won's upside, while importers bought the dollar for payments, traders said.
On Sunday, South Korea warned that exports in April would barely grow as the yen's slide directly hurt sales to Japan and damaged the price competitiveness of its exporters competing with Japanese in other markets.
Technically, the won also has a chart resistance at 1,106.0, a current 55-day moving average. The currency has been weaker than the average since late January.
"It looks better to buy the won on dips in a range between 1,100 and 1,120," said a senior foreign bank trader in Seoul.
TAIWAN DOLLAR
The Taiwan dollar advanced 0.6 percent to 29.526 to the US dollar, its strongest since Feb. 21.
Local exporters chased the island's currency for month-end settlements when it weakened to 29.600. The central bank has not been spotted intervening to stem its appreciation, traders said.
But foreign financial institutions did not buy much Taiwan dollar, with stocks just slightly higher.
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