Asian currencies fell, led by South Korea’s won and Malaysia’s ringgit, after the results of elections over the weekend in Europe stoked concern the region’s debt crisis may worsen. The won dropped by the most in 11 weeks as the MSCI Asia- Pacific Index (MXAP) of stocks lost 2 percent, sinking to the lowest level since January. Greek voters flocked to anti-bailout candidates, putting at risk austerity efforts needed to ensure the flow of financial aid. In France, Socialist Francois Hollande was elected president. He supports policies German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposes, including higher taxes, increased spending and a delayed deficit-reduction effort, “The French and Greek results were not encouraging,� said Sim Moh Siong, a currency strategist at Bank of Singapore Ltd. “With the Greek result, it’s doubtful whether they can stick to the reform package. We’ve seen a fair bit of risk aversion coming in.� The won slid 0.7 percent to 1,139.20 per dollar as of 10:44 a.m. in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ringgit weakened 0.7 percent to 3.0633, the Singapore dollar dropped 0.6 percent to $1.2494 and the Philippine peso lost 0.2 percent to 42.400. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most-used currencies excluding the yen, fell for a fifth day to a two-week low. Its 60-day historical volatility dropped to 2.69 percent from 2.72 percent on May 4. U.S. payrolls climbed by 115,000 in April, the smallest gain in six months and less than the median economist forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg for an advance of 160,000, official data showed on May 4. Slower hiring may signal waning demand from the U.S. for Asian exports as China’s economy cools. Rocky Start “Asian currencies will start off rocky this week due to weak U.S. payrolls combined with uncertainty in the Greek elections,� said Sean Yokota, a Singapore-based currency strategist at UBS AG. Taiwan’s dollar slipped 0.1 percent to NT$29.303 before a government report today that will show exports fell 3.1 percent in April following a 3.2 percent decline in March, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Indonesia’s economic growth slowed to an annual pace of 6.31 percent in the first quarter, compared with 6.49 percent in the final three months of 2011, a separate survey showed before official data due today. The rupiah strengthened 0.3 percent to 9,251 per dollar. Yuan Fixing The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s reference rate 0.22 percent weaker at 6.2858 per dollar, the biggest drop since March 12, after the close last week of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue with U.S. officials. The yuan fell 0.10 percent to 6.3127 per dollar, according to China Foreign Trade System. A government report this week may show Chinese exports rose 8.5 percent in April, slowing from March’s 8.9 percent gain, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Consumer prices rose 3.4 percent versus 3.6 percent in March, a separate survey showed before official data due May 11. Elsewhere in Asia, Vietnam’s dong was little changed at 20,855 per dollar. Thailand’s financial markets are closed for a public holiday. To contact the reporters on this story: David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net; Kyoungwha Kim in Singapore at kkim19@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net.

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