Bath falls on US job worries

       The baht fell from the strongest level in 14 months on concern a US government report yesterday would show the jobless rate climbed to a 26-year high, dampening the outlook for consumer spending and Asian exports.
       The currency dropped for a second day as the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares lost 1.9 per cent following a private industry report showing US manufacturing had unexpectedly declined.
       The Dollar Index, which the ICE uses to track the greenback against currencies of six major trading partners, rose toward a three-week high as investors sought relative safety on doubts about the pace of a global recovery.
       "We've seen some unwinding of riskier assets and dollar short-covering, "said Chutima Nuphan, a foreign-exchange trader at TMB Bank, "The market is concerned about a recovery because the jobless rate may be worse than people think. The stock markets are falling as well."
       The baht fell 0.1 per cent to 33.51 per dollar as of 10.23am yesterday in Bangkok. The currency reached 33.38 on Thursday, the highest level since July 2008. It headed for a fourth weekly gain, rising 0.2 per cent.
       The central bank will stem volatility in the baht and aims to keep its movements in line with other currencies in the region, Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase said last week. Policy-makers have no plans to implement measures to control capital flows, she said.
       Overseas investors bought US$136 million (Bt4.55 billion) more Thai equities than they sold this past week as of Thursday, taking net purchases this year to $1.7 billion.