Investors raise bets on Singapore dollar, more bearish on won

Investors slightly raised bets on the Singapore dollar in the past two weeks ahead of the central bank's policy meeting, becoming more bullish on the currency than on any other emerging Asian unit, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is widely expected to keep monetary policy on hold early Friday and allow the local dollar to rise at a "modest and gradual" pace against other currencies to help combat persistent inflationary pressures.
But concerns over inflation caused some speculation about a surprise tightening or a hawkish stance by the central bank, dealers said. Investors also increased positions in the Philippine peso and the Thai baht. Currency players, however, hesitated to build up decisive positions in overall emerging Asian currencies on persistent worries about a slowing global economy, especially the Chinese market, and debt restructuring in the euro zone.
Investors became more bearish on the South Korean won and the Indonesian rupiah, the survey of 15 currency analysts showed. The won has been pressured by rising geopolitical tension over North Korea's planned rocket launch. The previous poll published on March 29 indicated investors already scaled back long positions in emerging Asian currencies.
The Reuters survey focused on what analysts believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: Chinese yuan, South Korean won , Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah , Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht. The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long on dollars. The figures included positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).