SINGAPORE The rupiah held steady against the U.S. dollar Tuesday with the Singapore dollar benefitting from the peaceful conduct of the elections in Indonesia, dealers said. The rupiah stood at 7,750 to the greenback at mid-morning, down slightly from its close here the day before of 7,700. "There's some buying of the (U.S.) dollar in Jakarta, but offshore interest in the rupiah is helping the unit stay steady," said the chief dealer of a European bank here.

The relatively violence-free elections in Indonesia on Monday also boosted the Singapore dollar, which saw some foreign names unloading some of their long U.S.-dollar positions against the Singapore dollar, he added. The Singapore dollar, which is seen as a proxy currency for the rupiah, stood at 1.7220 to the greenback, up from 1.7264 the day before. Singapore's political and economic fate is closely linked with its giant neighbor's.

Other Asian currencies trading slightly higher from their closes on Monday were the Philippine peso at 37.90 from 37.98, and the South Korean won at 1,180.50 from 1,182.75. The Taiwan dollar was at 32.540, up from 32.629 amid expectations of more foreign fund inflows boosting the unit. The Thai baht was unchanged from its close of 37.037 to the U.S. dollar.

The Japanese yen was traded slightly lower here at 121.26-levels, from its close of 120.60 in New York and 121.10 in Singapore on Monday. The yen's dip was attributed to reported remarks by Japan's Vice Finance Minister Eisuke Sakakibara, who said it was not good for the yen to rise quickly, dealers said. But speculation of more fiscal stimulus measures to be announced by Tokyo helped limit the yen's downside against the dollar, they added.

(AFP)