Yen, South Korean Won, Taiwan Dollar: Asia Currency Preview

By Bob Chen

Sept. 8 (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. Vice Finance Minister Kazuyuki Sugimoto is scheduled to give a press conference at 5 p.m.

The yen traded at 108.63 per dollar at 8:40 a.m. in Sydney.

South Korean won: The National Statistics Office will report consumer confidence in August at 1:30 p.m. in Gwacheon. Consumer confidence in July declined to the lowest level in almost eight years as oil and food costs pushed inflation to a decade high and squeezed household budgets.

The won was at 1,117.80.

Taiwan dollar: Inflation slowed to 4.78 percent in August from a 14-year high of 5.92 percent the previous month, the government reported Sept. 5 after local markets closed. That was lower than the 5 percent rate forecast by economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Ministry of Finance will report August trade figures at 4 p.m. in Taipei. Exports in August rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. That would be the slowest growth since May 2007.

The Taiwan dollar was at NT$31.875.

Indonesian rupiah: The central bank may report as early as today the nation's consumer confidence index for August. The gauge rose to 82.1 in July from a 32-month low of 79.1, according to a Bank Indonesia survey released today. A reading below 100 indicates pessimists outnumber optimists.

The rupiah was at 9,375.

Singapore dollar: The Monetary Authority of Singapore is due to report foreign-exchange reserves for August today. The reserves fell to $175 billion in July from $176.7 billion the previous month.

The Singapore dollar was at S$1.4273.

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