SINGAPORE: Most emerging Asian currencies eased on Tuesday as China's yuan fell to its weakest in 14 months, with the Indonesian rupiah at a near seven-week low.
Regional currencies briefly pared some of losses after China's central bank said it will cut the reserve requirement ratio for rural banks at the country level by between 0.5 and 2 percentage points, as Beijing looks to shore up flagging economic growth.
The cut had been announced last week but not the details.
"That is likely to support Asian currencies with more liquidity," said Yuna Park, a currency and bond analyst at Dongbu Securities in Seoul.
The People's Bank of China said the measure does not mean a change in direction of its monetary policy.
"There should be very minimal impact on Asian FX, if any because it is only for some rural banks," said Andy Ji, Asian currency strategist for Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Singapore.
Spot yuan fell as much as 0.2 percent to 6.2390 per dollar, its weakest since February 2013, on increasing corporate dollar demand and central bank guidance.
Emerging Asian currencies closely track the renminbi due to the region's heavy dependence on the Chinese economy.
Some regional currencies such as the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit are often used as a proxy to bet on the yuan.
Both the Singapore dollar and the ringgit touched two-week lows.
The rupiah hit a near seven-week low on month-end dollar demand from local importers and the currency's weakness in non-deliverable forwards markets.
South Korea's won, however, bucked against slides among emerging Asian currencies to end the local trade higher as exporters' month-end demand for settlements caused investors to cover short positions.
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