Emerging FX-Asia up on firmer yen, rupiah recovers

SINGAPORE, Jan 15 (Reuters) Asian currencies bounced back versus the dollar on Monday, thanks largely to a firmer yen which helped boost investor sentiment after recent sell-offs.

Most Asian currencies had been on the defensive since earlier this month, depressed by an unwinding of the yen carry trades, events such as Thailand's revised foreign investment laws and the decline in emerging market stocks and commodity prices.

''Firmer performance in regional stock markets are expected to lend a supportive tone for Asian FX and the dollar/yen moving further from 121 also helps,'' said Christy Tan, currency strategist at Bank Of America.

''In the short term, I think sentiment will still be largely driven by external factors, while domestic factors continue to be supportive of Asian FX appreciation,'' she said.

The yen edged up from a 13-month low against the dollar on Monday after data showed Japanese machinery orders beat forecasts, possibly paving the way for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates this week.

The Indonesian rupiah , which bore the brunt of selling in Asian currencies on Friday, was quoted about 0.4 percent higher at 9,108 per dollar, while the Philippine peso also gained a third of a percent to 48.86 per dollar.

The Singapore dollar gained about a fifth of a percent to 1.5420 per U.S. dollar, bouncing back from its weakest point since mid-December.

The South Korea won was quoted as high as 936.4 per U.S. dollar, despite market jitters that the government could unveil fresh measures to curb the won's strength.

The Chinese yuan hit its post-revaluation high of 7.7925 per dollar, bringing the currency's cumulative rises to just over 4 percent since it was revalued in July 2005.

The Financial News, a newspaper run by the central bank, said in a front-page editorial that China will extend its gradualist approach to reforming the yuan with the ultimate goal of achieving a market-driven exchange rate. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0226 GMT REUTERS SY HT0920