Emerging FX-Rupiah and peso down on credit jitters

SINGAPORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) The Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso took a fresh hit on Monday as fresh signs of weakness in global credit markets promoted investors to cut riskier assets.

The rupiah slipped as far as 9,348 per dollar, down 0.8 percent from late Asia trade on Friday and hitting its weakest level in 13 months.

Traders said the central bank had tried to buy the rupiah to help prevent the currency from falling sharply.

''The central bank's intention is to slow down the volatility,'' said a trader in Jakarta. ''It looks like the rupiah is testing 9,350 today.'' The rupiah has fallen 3.8 percent versus the dollar so far this year, making it the worst performing currency in the region.

The peso fell as far as 45.8 per dollar, down about 0.7 percent from Friday's close.

Thio Chin Loo, currency strategist at BNP Paribas, said she belived the peso would be supported by the country's solid economic fundamentals -- trade surpluses and capital inflows.

''We like to sell dollar/peso near 46 as the Philippines' fundamentals are still positive,'' she said.

The Japanese yen hit a two-month high versus the high-yielding New Zealand dollar and rose to a four-month peak against the U.S.

dollar as investors unwound carry trades.

MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan lost 2.4 percent following a slide in U.S. stocks late last week after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their worst shape in two decades.

Most analysts believe the volatility that has overshadowed emerging Asian currencies in recent weeks will persist amid worries about the fallout from the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

REUTER SW KP0921