Tuesday in Asia, the US dollar surged to an 8-day high against the Indian rupee on heavy dollar demand by importers and bearish stock markets. The dollar also jumped to a 6-day high against the South Korean won and a 4-day high against the Thai baht. The dollar also gained against the Singapore dollar and the Chinese yuan.
On the other hand, the dollar pared the gains it posted in early Asian trading against the currencies of Malaysia, Philippine and Taiwan. The dollar thus eased from a 5-day high against the Malaysian ringgit, 6-day high against the Philippine peso and a 1-week high against the Taiwan dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar remained lower against the Hong Kong dollar.
The US currency strengthened against the Singapore dollar during early Asian deals on Tuesday. At about 8:05 pm ET, the pair reached 1.4540, up from yesterday's close of 1.4460. If the greenback gains further, it may likely target the 1.46 level.
In early Asian trading on Tuesday, the dollar jumped to a 4-day high of 34.6650 against the Thailand currency. This may be compared to yesterday's close of 34.5450. The next upside target level for the dollar-baht pair is seen at 34.7850.
The dollar, which closed yesterday's New York session at 47.7250 against the Indian rupee rose to an 8-day of 48.5450 during early deals on Tuesday. If the dollar-rupee pair advances further, 48.98 is seen as the next target level.
During early Asian deals on Tuesday, the dollar gained against the South Korean won and reached a 6-day high of 1344.50 at 11:20 pm ET. On the upside, the dollar-won pair is likely to target the 1372.7 level. The pair was worth 1308.40 at Monday's close.
South Korean bank's delinquency ratio rose to 1.18% in November, a report from the Financial Supervisory Service showed today. The financial watchdog said the delinquency ratio among loans to households dropped 0.01 percentage points to 0.66% in November. Meanwhile, the loan default rate by small and medium enterprises stood at 1.86%, up from 1.79% a month ago.
After a brief slide, the dollar ticked up against the Chinese yuan in early Asian trading on Tuesday. The pair moved from 6.8490 to 6.8565 by about 8:55 pm ET. The next upside target level for the dollar is seen at 6.858. The pair closed Monday's North American session at 6.8527. The People's Bank of China has set today's central parity rate for the dollar-yuan pair at 6.8389.
In early Asian trading on Tuesday, the US currency slipped against the Hong Kong dollar. At about 10:50 pm ET, the pair touched 7.7498, down from Monday's close of 7.7510. The immediate support level for the pair is seen at 7.7490.
The dollar lost ground against the Malaysian ringgit after hitting a 5-day high of 3.4960 at 10:00 pm ET Monday. As of now, the dollar-ringgit pair is worth 3.4870 with 3.44 seen as the next target level. The pair closed yesterday's trading at 3.4828.
Against the Philippine peso, the dollar advanced to a 6-day high of 47.65 by about 8:20 pm ET Monday. Thereafter, the dollar edged down and touched 47.21 at 10:35 pm ET, down from yesterday's close of 47.2850.
The dollar soared to a 1-week high of 33.1460 against the Taiwan currency before losing ground at 8:40 pm ET Monday. Presently, the pair is trading near yesterday's close of 32.9850.
Looking ahead, Singapore is scheduled to announce its consumer price index data for October. Analysts are expecting inflation to increase between 5.1 and 5.5 percent on year, down from the 6.4 percent annual expansion in the previous month.
Taiwan will provide November numbers for industrial output and export orders. Industrial production is expected to decline 15.7 percent on year following the 12.55 percent annual decline in October. Export orders are seen lower by 13.6 percent on year after a 5.56 percent contraction on year in the previous month.
The Malaysian central bank will hold its one-day monetary policy meeting today, and will announce its decision on interest rates at the conclusion of the meeting. Analysts are expecting the bank to ease rates by 25 basis points from the current 3.25 percent to 3.00 percent.
Across the Atlantic, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to release its final third quarter GDP report at 8:30 AM ET. The report is likely to show that the U.S. economy contracted by a 0.5% rate in the quarter.
The final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December is due to be released at 10 AM ET. The report is expected to show that the consumer sentiment index eased to 58.6 from the mid-month reading of 59.1.
The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales for November at the same time. Economists estimate existing home sales of 4.93 million for the month.
The Commerce Department is due to release its new home sales report for November is also due at 10 AM ET. The consensus estimate calls for a decline in new homes sales to 420,000.
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