Won close to 3-week high

ASIAN CURRENCIES ROUND-UP

Asian currencies gained, led by the South Korean won and the Philippine peso, as overseas investors increased their appetite for the region's assets.

The won approached a three-week high after global funds bought a net 264.9 billion won ($282.5 million) of local shares today, the most in more than three months. A government report this week showed South Korea's economy grew at the fastest pace in almost four years in the second quarter. Six of the 10 most- traded Asian currencies outside Japan advanced today.

"The return of foreign equity buying sends a positive signal to Korea and the rest of the region,'' said Ben Simpfendorfer, a foreign-exchange strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong. ``The fundamentals are great for this currency, both on stronger exports and solid domestic demand.''

The won rose 0.1 percent to 938.10 per dollar at the 3 p.m. local time close of onshore trading, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. The Philippine peso gained 0.2 percent to 46.665, according to Tullett Prebon Plc, the world's second- largest inter-dealer broker. The Indonesian rupiah advanced 0.1 percent to 9,400, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Indonesia's currency gained as global investors yesterday bought more local shares than they sold for a fourth straight day, according to the stock exchange.

"Investors are coming back into Asia,'' said Steve Rowles, a currency strategist at CFC Seymour Ltd. in Hong Kong. "It's become a trend that some of these Asian currencies and equities are almost a bit of a hedge against the global market turmoil.''

Appetite Increases

Appetite for the region's assets increased after a rally in U.S. stocks yesterday following a holiday weekend. President George W. Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke pledged on Aug. 31 to prevent credit losses from slowing the world's biggest economy.

The Philippine peso, which has gained for the past two weeks, snapped a two-day decline.

"We follow the U.S.,'' said Ricky Cebrero, treasurer at East West Banking Corp. in Manila. "If there's less worry, you sell dollars for pesos to take more risk again.''

Malaysia's ringgit was little changed after the government yesterday said exports unexpectedly declined 0.02 percent in July from a year earlier. Economists had expected overseas shipments to rise 0.6 percent.

The ringgit has fallen 1.6 percent since the beginning of last month to 3.5079 against the dollar, according to Bloomberg data, making the nation's assets cheaper to overseas investors.

``The ringgit can strengthen,'' said Awaluddin Shariff, a currency trader at EON Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. ``There are a lot of buyers near the 3.51 level.''

Elsewhere, the Singapore dollar was little changed at S$1.5275, the Indian rupee advanced 0.2 percent to 40.92 and the Taiwan dollar fell 0.1 percent to NT$33.042.