Won leads Asian currencies higher

The South Korean won rose to a 2-1/2-year high on Thursday, leading other emerging Asian currencies higher, on the back of sustained inflows into the Seoul stock market which will probably spell further gains for the won in the coming quarter.
The won was the biggest gainer among regional currencies in the first three months of the year, advancing 3.6 percent against the dollar, followed by the Indonesian rupiah and the Taiwan dollar. The dollar's tumble below 1,100 won late in the session spilled over to other currencies such as the Thai baht and Singapore dollar, causing foreign exchange authorities in South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia to intervene to slow their currencies' gains, dealers said.
The won's gains have been bolstered by a 12-day long Korean equity buying spree by foreign investors - the longest streak since October 2010. In local trade, the dollar/won's 14-day relative strength index fell to 31.548, the lowest since October 2010, indicating the dollar is approaching oversold territory against the won.
In the spot market, the rupiah, which had earlier suffered from dollar-short covering, tested 8,700, beyond which would be the strongest since May 2007. The Taiwan dollar rose as exporters bought it for settlements, but its gains were capped as the central bank was spotted buying dollars, especially around T$29.45 and T$29.55, dealers said.
The peso started local trade at 43.35 per dollar but cut some gains as local banks sold the Philippine currency on behalf of domestic companies. The Singapore dollar hit a fresh record high of 1.2590 per dollar on broad weakness in the US dollar and as the firmer won caused investors to keep chasing the Singapore currency.