Japanese Yen, South Korean Won, Ringgit: Asia Currency Preview

By Bob Chen

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.

Japanese yen: The Finance Ministry releases weekly portfolio flows data at 8:50 a.m. in Tokyo. Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura will hold briefings at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Tokyo. Vice Finance Minister Kazuyuki Sugimoto is scheduled to give a press conference at 5 p.m.

The yen traded at 108.68 as of 6:23 p.m. in Tokyo.

South Korean won: The central bank will release a report on economic growth for the second quarter tomorrow. Currency, bond and stock markets will stabilize as investor concerns that the nation is facing a financial crisis subside, Deputy Finance Minister Shin Je Yoon said yesterday.

The won was at 1,148.50.

Malaysian ringgit: Exports rose 15 percent in July from a year earlier, economists forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before the government reports the data at 12:01 p.m. local time. Overseas sales climbed 18.4 percent in June, the slowest pace in three months.

The ringgit was at 3.4415.

Indonesian rupiah: The central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate today for a fifth straight month by a quarter-percentage point to 9.25 percent, according to 23 of the 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Five forecast no change.

The central bank is scheduled to report the nation's foreign-exchange reserves as of Aug. 31 either today or tomorrow. They climbed to $60.56 billion in July from $59.45 billion the previous month.

The rupiah was at 9,212.

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