SINGAPORE: The rupiah eased on Monday but pared some losses after Indonesia posted a small trade surplus in July and as most emerging Asian currencies gained slightly, with firm regional stocks offsetting downbeat Chinese manufacturing activity.
Indonesia reported a $123.7 million trade surplus in July, compared with a Reuters poll forecast for a $390 million deficit. That helped the rupiah recover some of its initial slide.
Most emerging Asian currencies gained, with the Philippine peso at its highest in more than a month.
The peso rose as much as 0.3 percent to 43.470 per dollar, its strongest since July 31, as investors sought higher yields on rate hike expectations. A break of 43.50 also caused stop-loss dollar selling, traders said.
South Korea's won gained as exporters' demand for settlements prompted traders to cover short positions.
The foreign exchange authorities were not spotted intervening to curb the won's appreciation, traders said.
The yuan rebounded on technical buying, even though growth in China's vast factory sector cooled in August.
The slowdown boosted calls for more policy easing to prevent the world's second-largest economy from stumbling again.
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