Yen, Taiwan Dollar, Malaysian Ringgit: Asia Currency Preview

By Bob Chen

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.

Japanese yen: The Bank of Japan will release minutes from its Aug. 18-19 meeting at 8:50 a.m. in Tokyo.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura will hold briefings at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will vote at 2 p.m. to decide the next prime minister.

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

The yen was at 106.85 a dollar at 8:02 a.m. in Sydney.

Hong Kong dollar: Prices of consumer goods rose 5.9 percent in August from a year earlier, economists said in a Bloomberg News survey before the government reports the data at 4:30 p.m. today. Inflation accelerated to 6.3 percent in July, matching the fastest pace in more than a decade.

The government will report second-quarter balance of payments at the same time.

The Hong Kong dollar was at 7.7833.

Taiwan dollar: The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.91 percent in August from the previous month, economists said in a Bloomberg survey before the National Statistics Office reports the data at 4 p.m. local time.

The Taiwan dollar was at NT$32.158.

Malaysian ringgit: Inflation quickened to 8.4 percent in August, holding near July's 27-year high of 8.5 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey before a statistics department report due on Sept. 24. Bank Negara will report Malaysia's foreign reserves as of Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. today in Kuala Lumpur. The reserves were at $122.58 billion on Aug. 29.

The ringgit was at 3.4527.

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