Asian currencies dip on EU fears, rupee rises on relief

SINGAPORE: Most Asian currencies fell on Monday, with market players reluctant to take on risk amid doubts that a European summit later this week will produce any concrete measures to stem the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis. The Singapore dollar was among the Asian currencies that were hardest hit, falling roughly 0.4 percent versus the U.S. dollar. The South Korean won and a few other currencies fell by a similar amount. However, the Indian rupee went against the grain and surged 1.1 percent to 56.51 a fter Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday the government will unveil measures on Monday to arrest the currency's slide. The rupee had hit a record low of 57.32 to the dollar on Friday, and has fallen roughly 6 percent so far this year. A focal point this week is whether a summit of European leaders on June 28-29 will produce measures that instil confidence in European policymakers' ability to stem the euro zone's debt crisis.

"It looks like there's still a lot of argument going on, at least between Germany and the rest of the stakeholders in Europe," said Sacha Tihanyi, senior currency strategist for Scotia Capital in Hong Kong. "So there's a lot of uncertainty there," he said. "It is more logical or prudent to expect further bad news."