Singapore dollar, ringgit have worst week in six months

The Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit had their worst week in nearly six months as investors on Friday continued to take profits from emerging Asian currencies and other riskier assets amid plunging commodity prices and before US job data.
The Singapore dollar bucked overall falls in the regional currencies in the last session as speculators took advantage of slides in its peers to buy ahead of Saturday's general election. Exporters also bought regional units for settlements on dips, providing some support. Still, emerging Asian currencies are expected to stay weak in near term and investors are unlikely to chase them more for now despite their bright outlook in the longer term, as commodity markets are poised for a further near-term drop, analysts and dealers said.
"Asia holds the line a bit better today and bargain hunters are in focusing on SGD and THB in particular. Still, the fact that the rest of the Asian currencies are still sitting on daily losses means that it is too early to say that risk aversion has run its course," said Sacha Tihanyi, a senior currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Hong Kong.
With market players taking profits from Asian currencies, the Singapore dollar shed 0.95 percent for the week and the ringgit lost 1.23 percent, their largest weekly percentage loss since the week ended on November 28 last year. The won slid as much as 1.5 percent against the dollar and filled a gap seen late April.
The South Korean currency recovered some losses as exporters chased it for settlements as the unit is facing a resistance level of 1,094.5 per dollar, the low of April 19. The baht may weaken to 30.32 per dollar, the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement level of January-May strengthening trend if the pair clearly breaks through a resistance of 30.17, the higher downtrend channel line of dollar/baht. A Bangkok-based dealer said the baht has more room to slide although some investors are still looking to join exporters in buying the Thai currency. US dollar/Singapore dollar's 14-day Relative Strength Index rose to 47.21 on Thursday, the highest since Mar 18, indicating the pair is mostly bought although it is not overbought yet.