Emerging Asian currencies rose slightly on Wednesday on short-covering after European officials agreed to strengthen a bailout fund, but most regional units lost ground during November. The won found support from a central bank in central Asia, which dealers said had sold about $700 million in dollar/won on Tuesday to buy South Korean bonds.
Some Asian central banks have bought bonds in Korea to diversify their foreign exchange reserves. Most emerging Asian currencies have fallen against the dollar this month, although they found relief from short-covering this week on hopes of progress in tackling the eurozone debt crisis.
The Indonesian rupiah has shed 3.3 percent versus the dollar this month, Thomson Reuters data showed, although dealers said the central bank has been intervening by selling dollars. Earlier, Bank Indonesia's governor said the central bank plans to intervene more heavily in the currency market and dealers spotted its dollar-selling. Dollar/won eased on supplies from custodian banks and South Korean exporters for month-end settlements. But the pair recovered most of its earlier slide as importers and some offshore funds bought it, prompting speculators to cover short positions.
Investors were keeping an eye on flows linked to a sale of a stake in Kumho Petrochemical Co Macro names and interbank speculators sold dollar/ringgit, but some players covered short positions with support seen at 3.1600. In the past, when the pair rose above that level, the dollar strengthened further. US dollar/Singapore dollar eased on selling from macro accounts and interbank speculators but recovered most of the slide. Investors covered short positions as the pair is seen facing support around 1.2900. Dollar/baht fell on offshore banks' selling but its slide was limited, tracking other dollar/Asian currencies.
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