Yen, Singapore Dollar, Philippine Peso: Asia Currency Preview

By Bob Chen

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.

Japanese yen: Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano and Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura will hold briefings after a cabinet meeting this morning.

The yen was at 109.64 a dollar at 6:37 a.m. in New York.

Singapore dollar: Retail sales fell 0.2 percent in June from a year earlier, following a 4.8 percent increase the previous month, economists said in a Bloomberg News survey before the government reports the data at 1 p.m. local time.

The local dollar was at S$1.4083.

Philippine peso: The central bank will detail June remittances data today. Money sent home by Filipinos working abroad increased 15.6 percent in May to $1.43 billion.

The peso was at 44.982.

Thai baht: The Bank of Thailand will detail foreign- exchange reserves for the week ended Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m.

The baht was at 33.72.

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