Azerbaijan, Baku, March. 12 / Trend /
Asian currencies fell this week, led by South Korea's won and the Philippine peso, as a major earthquake in Japan spurred demand for dollars and yen, while signs the global recovery is losing steam deterred risk-taking, Bloomberg reported.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region's 10 most-traded currencies excluding the yen, declined 0.2 percent for the week. An 8.9-magnitude earthquake yesterday, the strongest ever recorded in Japan, prompted a slump in regional stocks. Overseas investors sold $2.8 billion more South Korean and Taiwanese stocks than they bought this week, exchange data show. The yen strengthened the most since Dec. 3 on safe-haven demand.
"The impact from the earthquake could result in slower external trade as Japan is traditionally one of the top three markets for Asian exporters," said Suresh Kumar Ramanathan, a currency strategist at CIMB Investment Bank in Kuala Lumpur. "Also, if growth in China cools off further, it could chip away some of the recent gains in Asian currencies."
South Korea's won dropped 0.9 percent from a week earlier to 1,124.18 against the dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Philippine peso slipped 0.9 percent to 43.65. Taiwan's dollar and India's rupee each fell almost 0.5 percent to NT$29.599 and 45.1825, respectively.
"The earthquake raised concern some economic activities will be halted in Japan," said Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency trader at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo yesterday. Sony Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. are among companies that suspended production in factories affected by the temblor.