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The Thai baht dropped Monday to its lowest level
against the United States dollar in almost six months, while other Asian
currencies weakened, as investors pared back bets of an imminent revaluation of
the yuan.
Investors flocked to US assets, boosting the greenback after a string of
surprisingly strong US economic data.
The Thai baht slumped as much as 0.8 percent to 39.84 per US dollar, its weakest
level since November 23.
The Singapore dollar lost as much as half a percent to 1.6624, its weakest since
April 6. The Philippine peso, Asia's best-performing currency this year, lost
up to 0.7 percent to 54.56.
The South Korean won fell as much as 0.9 percent to a three-week low of 1,010.3,
while the Taiwan dollar shed a third of a percent to a two-week low of 31.42.
``It is Asian currencies broadly weakening because of diminished hopes of a
China revaluation,'' said Danny Suwanapruti, currency analyst at Forecast in
Singapore. ``China isn't going to revalue as soon as many had expected.''
Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Friday reports that a move was
imminent were incorrect.
The one-month yuan non-deliverable forwards, derivatives used by investors to
bet on any near-term change in the yuan's value, factored in a 0.5 percent rise
in the currency, declining from 1 percent Friday and a record high of 1.3
percent May 3.
US data last week showed the US created more jobs in April than analysts
expected, while retail sales that month beat analysts' forecasts.REUTERS
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