SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--The Singapore dollar was stronger late Monday as Asian currencies found support from strong Chinese manufacturing numbers released over the weekend.
Regional currencies were pushed higher after China's official Purchasing Managers Index improved in March contrary to market expectations, climbing to 53.1--its highest in 12 months--from 51.0 in February.
The outcome helped ease concern about the world's second-largest economy suffering a hard landing--or a sudden and dramatic decline in economic conditions.
However, business sentiment figures in Japan fell short of market expectations and put a cap on Asian currencies' gains.
"Although you had a good China PMI headline, some of the other recent numbers out of China have been mixed and the [Bank of Japan's] weaker-than-expected tankan aren't too positive for Asian currencies," said a Singapore-based trader.
The trader projects the U.S. dollar to move in a range of S$1.2460 to S$1.2590 in the near term.
Singapore government bond yields were higher Monday, especially at the longer end, as China's PMI result drove investors out of safe-haven assets.
-By Sam Holmes, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4157; samuel.holmes@dowjones.com
