US dollar steady against emerging market currencies; SGD falls 0.03% against USD

[TOKYO] The dollar faced selling pressure against major currencies but strengthened against most of its Asia-Pacific peers Monday as concerns over emerging economies remained strong despite an expected delay in Washington's rate hike.

The US unit edged up to 119.97 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 119.92 in New York late Friday but still down from 120.05 in Tokyo earlier that day.

The euro rose to US$1.1235 and 134.78 yen in Tokyo from US$1.1219 and 134.53 yen in US trade.

"Dollar-selling sentiment is growing against major currencies after the job reports," Minori Uchida, head of Tokyo global markets research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, told AFP.

The US Labor Department's September report showed stalling job growth in the past two months, stagnating wages, and the participation rate falling to a 38-year low, dampening the likelihood of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in October.

"The Fed is extremely unlikely to begin policy normalisation as soon as this month and December is looking tenuous too," Philip Borkin, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank, said in a client note, according to Bloomberg News.

Calls on the Fed to raise interest rates were putting renewed pressure on emerging economies as investors withdraw their cash to seek better returns in the US.

But Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Uchida said: "The dollar should not be so weak against Asian currencies as players still can't see many encouraging factors to support the regional currencies right now." In Tokyo afternoon trade, the Singapore dollar fell by 0.03 per cent from Friday against the US unit, the South Korean won slipped 0.69 per cent and the Taiwan dollar lost 0.63 per cent.

The Indian rupee declined 0.30 per cent and the Indonesian rupiah edged down 0.60 per cent while the Thai baht was flat.

AFP