Japan's Yen, Philippine Peso, Thai Baht: Asia Currency Preview

By Bob Chen

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.

Japanese yen: Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura will hold briefings at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Tokyo. Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki will address reporters at 5 p.m.

The yen was at 109.68 a dollar at 8:58 a.m. in New York.

Philippine peso: The central bank may raise the benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to 6 percent tomorrow, according to 13 of 15 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Two expect a half-point increase.

The economy expanded 5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the three months ended September 2005, economists said in another survey before the government reports the data at 10 a.m. in Manila tomorrow.

The peso was at 45.995.

Hong Kong dollar: The government will report trade balance data for July tomorrow. Exports rose 5.5 percent after they fell in June for the first time in two years, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

The Hong Kong dollar was at HK$7.8076.

Thai baht: The central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to 3.75 percent today, according to 15 of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The rest expect no change. The decision is due at 2:30 p.m. in Bangkok.

The baht was at 34.23.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Chen in Hong Kong at bchen45@bloomberg.net.