VINACHEM

Asian currencies fell to a four-monthlow as Greece’s failure to form a government deterred risk-taking, damping demand for higher-yielding assets.

South Korea’s won and Malaysia’s ringgit tumbled the mostthis year, India’s rupee slid to a record low and the Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index dropped for a fourth day. Post-election attempts to form a ruling coalition in Athens brokedown yesterday, sending Greeks back to the polls next month withsurveys giving the lead to an anti-bailout party. Official datayesterday showed foreign direct investment in China fell for asixth month in April.

“The news that Greece will have new elections increasesthe risk of it exiting from the euro,” said Thomas Harr, theSingapore-based head of Asian foreign-exchange strategy atStandard Chartered Plc. “Secondly, it’s China’s slowdown. Thosetwo things are driving markets at the moment.”

The ringgit slumped 1.1 percent to 3.1120 per dollar as of4:27 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled byBloomberg. The won dropped 1 percent to 1,165.55, the Philippinepeso weakened 0.9 percent to 43.04 and Thailand’s baht fell 0.5percent to 31.49. India’s rupee slid 0.8 percent to 54.2425,earlier touching an all-time low of 54.4650. The Asia DollarIndex reached 115.06, the lowest level since Jan. 9.

Monitoring Markets

The won dropped to the weakest level since January asexchange data showed international investors sold $2 billionmore Korean equities than they bought this month throughyesterday. The Kospi (KOSPI) Index fell for a sixth day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its lowest level in almost fourmonths in New York.

South Korean authorities will closely monitor markets forvolatility caused by political uncertainties in Europe, FinanceMinister Bahk Jae Wan said at a government meeting today.

“Global stock declines are triggering risk-aversesentiment in the market,” said Jeon Seung Ji, a Seoul-basedcurrency analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. “Still, I expect thewon to trade stronger than 1,160 per dollar as the financeminister’s comments put investors on alert for possibleintervention.”

Taiwan’s dollar dropped to the lowest level in more thanthree months, declining 0.4 percent to NT$29.635 versus thegreenback, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The baht reached itsweakest level since January. Global funds reduced holdings ofTaiwanese, Thai and Indonesia stocks by $2.3 billion this monththrough yesterday, exchange data show.

“The Greek issue is making investors risk-averse, and thatsupports the dollar and other safer assets,” said Hideki Hayashi, a researcher at the Japan Center for Economic Researchin Tokyo. “Asian currencies will likely see downward pressurefor the time being.”

Elsewhere, China’s yuan weakened 0.06 percent to 6.3222 perdollar. Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.2 percent to 9,281 andVietnam’s dong strengthened 0.1 percent to 20,835.