Yen dips as other currencies gain

ASIAN CURRENCIES ROUND-UP

Asian currencies rose on speculation global investors will increase holdings of the region's assets, betting it can withstand a global credit crisis.

The yen, however, fell against the euro and dollar on speculation the Japanese central bank will delay raising interest rates. Asian stocks were little changed. Japan's government bonds declined.

The following is a summary of today's markets:

The yen weakened on expectations the Bank of Japan will refrain from increasing borrowing costs, prompting investors to buy higher-yielding currencies with money borrowed in Japan.

Japan's yen fell against all but one of the 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg after a government report indicated a slump in Japanese business spending, prompting fund managers to resume so-called carry trades. Stock markets rose across Europe today as investors bought riskier assets.

The South Korean won climbed to a one-week high as a government report today showed the economy grew at the fastest pace in almost four years. Philippine central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said the peso will "remain firm'' this year due to remittances and overseas investment in stocks and bonds.

"Global demand will support these economies and that should be good for the currencies,'' said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore. ``The Korean economy is regaining momentum after a pause at the beginning of the year, and that should contribute to the strengthening of the won.''

The won rose 0.1 percent to 937.30 against the dollar as of 3 p.m. local time, the close of onshore trading, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd.

The Indonesian rupiah rose 0.1 percent to 9,391, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and the Philippine peso strengthened as much as 0.5 percent before being little changed at 46.565, according to Tullett Prebon Plc, the world's second-largest inter-dealer broker.

Appetite for emerging-market assets was boosted after U.S. President George W. Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke last week pledged to prevent credit losses from slowing the world's biggest economy.

Global funds bought $5.2 million more Philippine shares than they sold on Aug. 31, the most in almost a month. Overseas investors were also net purchasers of Taiwanese, Indonesian and Thai equities.

After a period of market turmoil, there's currently ``a little bit more stabilization in terms of where the Asian currencies are going,'' said Emmanuel Ng, a currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. ``If you don't see a flare up in risk aversion across the board, it's probably going to benefit currencies.''

Malaysia's ringgit was little changed at 3.5022 before a government report tomorrow that may show exports rebounded in July, supporting the outlook for faster growth. The trade ministry may say exports rose 0.6 percent in July from a year earlier after a 0.4 percent decline in June, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Thai baht traded at 34.31 against the dollar in onshore trading, close to a two-week high. The nation's economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter to an annual rate of 4.4 percent, the government said in Bangkok today.

Elsewhere, the Taiwan dollar was little changed at NT$33.007 to the U.S. currency and the Singapore dollar weakened 0.03 percent to S$1.5227.