The Thai baht rose more than 1 percent against the dollar on Monday as Sunday's general election eased worries about the country's political uncertainty, while the South Korean won hit a fresh 34-month high on continuous stock inflows. Interbank speculators also bought the Malaysian ringgit and the Philippine peso, which strengthened past medium-term technical resistance, while other emerging Asian currencies also gained.
The regional units gave up some of their earlier gains as the euro retreated after S&P said a debt rollover plan may put Greece in a selective default. Still, emerging Asian currencies are likely to keep enjoying inflows on stronger economic fundamentals, although those inflows may be volatile on any negative news on the euro zone's debt problems, analysts and dealers said.
The baht strengthened and broke through 30.36, its 50 percent Fibonacci retracement level of its fall between late April and June. It is seen heading to the 30.10-30.30 range which is a cluster of retracement levels and moving averages on daily charts. Singapore dollar/baht and the baht/rupiah could correct to 24.40-50 and 290 respectively over the course of the next few trading days.
The won hit a fresh 34-month high against the dollar, but cut some gains as importers bought dollars amid heightened caution over dollar-buying intervention by foreign exchange authorities. The ringgit hit a near one-month high against the dollar as interbank speculators cleared dollar-long positions. The Malaysian currency strengthened to as firm as 2.9940 per dollar, the strongest since June 6.