The Philippine peso and the Singapore dollar rose on Thursday, backed by expectations of policy tightening, while foreign fund inflows lifted the South Korean won and the Indian rupee.
The inflows to emerging Asian currencies helped offset the impact of worries about Portugal's debt problems and higher oil prices amid Middle East unrest, but it does not guarantee further rises in Asian currencies, dealers and analysts said.
Regional foreign exchange authorities are unlikely to allow any sharp moves either way in their currencies as they are fighting inflation while at the same time worrying about losing export competitiveness.
The peso edged up against the dollar before a central bank rate meeting later in the day. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to raise policy rates by 25 basis points, a Reuters poll showed, and it signalled on Wednesday a rate increase this week to combat inflation in spite of concerns growth may slow due to Japan's disaster and instability in the Middle East.
The peso may slide briefly if the central bank holds rates as the currency market has priced in a hike bui8lding up dollar-short positions, dealers said.
The peso has risen 1 percent against the dollar so far this year while the Taiwan dollar has gained 2.7 percent.
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