(Refiles to correct one word in the 10th paragraph)
* Baht, Taiwan dollar, won and rupee edge lower
* Near-term focus on U.S.-China summit meeting
* Thai baht pulls away from recent 20-month high
* Some wary of more steps to limit baht strength
By Masayuki Kitano
SINGAPORE, April 5 (Reuters) - Some Asian currencies edged
lower on Wednesday, ahead of a United States-China summit that
could highlight trade tensions between the world's two largest
economies.
The South Korean won fell 0.3 percent, while the
Taiwan dollar and Indian rupee both slipped by
around 0.2 percent.
The Thai baht led the losses with a decline of 0.4 percent
and pulled away from a 20-month high of around 34.285
reached on Monday.
The baht was weighed down by concerns that the Bank of
Thailand (BOT) could introduce further steps to stem hot money
inflows, analysts at Maybank said in a research note.
Thailand's short-dated bond yields declined at a bond
auction on Tuesday, as the central bank cut supply in a bid to
slow foreign fund inflows.
The BOT will cut its new weekly supply of three-and
six-month bonds to 30 billion baht each in April from 40 billion
offered weekly last month.
Some investors believe the central bank may take more moves
to limit the baht's strength, and have reduced their long
positions in the currency, traders said.
Most other emerging Asian currencies were little changed
before talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping that start on Thursday.
If the two leaders have an amicable meeting, that may
reduce the risk of the United States imposing some form of trade
measures against China for the time being and be positive for
Asian currencies, said Kota Hirayama, senior economist for SMBC
Nikko Securities in Tokyo.
Despite uncertainty about the U.S-China relationship and
other risks such as France's presidential elections on April 23
and May 7, Asian currencies will probably stay firm this month,
Hirayama said.
"I don't think that the broad trend of an improvement (in
Asian economies) on the back of a pick-up in trade will break
down," he said.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH
The rupiah held steady at 13,323 per U.S. dollar.
Since February, the rupiah has mostly traded around
13,300-13,400, with its advance stalling near the 13,300 level
per U.S. dollar even though foreign fund inflows into Indonesian
bonds have been strong.
In March, overseas investors increased their holdings of
Indonesian government bonds by 31.3 trillion rupiah ($2.35
billion).
Indonesian authorities are probably reluctant to see the
rupiah appreciate beyond the 13,300 level, said Teppei Ino, an
analyst for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in Singapore, noting
that Indonesia's foreign reserves have risen in recent months.
"If you just look at the flow of money (into Indonesian
bonds), it wouldn't have been strange to see levels such as
13,200 or 13,100," he said.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0451 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous Pct
day Move
Japan yen 110.64 110.75 +0.10
Sing dlr 1.3983 1.3984 +0.01
Taiwan dlr 30.403 30.336 -0.22
Korean won 1125.40 1121.90 -0.31
Baht 34.53 34.41 -0.35
Peso 50.165 50.175 +0.02
Rupiah 13323 13327 +0.03
Rupee 65.13 65.03 -0.15
Ringgit 4.4285 4.4300 +0.03
Yuan 6.8866 6.8835 -0.05
Change so
far in 2017
Currency Latest bid End prev Pct
year Move
Japan yen 110.64 117.07 +5.81
Sing dlr 1.3983 1.4490 +3.63
Taiwan dlr 30.403 32.279 +6.17
Korean won 1125.40 1207.70 +7.31
Baht 34.53 35.80 +3.69
Peso 50.17 49.72 -0.89
Rupiah 13323 13470 +1.10
Rupee 65.13 67.92 +4.29
Ringgit 4.4285 4.4845 +1.26
Yuan 6.8866 6.9467 +0.87
(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Additional reporting by
Satawasin Staporncharnchai in BANGKOK; Editing by Richard
Borsuk)