EM ASIA FX-Intervention fears hurt Thai baht, Singapore dollar

* Thai baht falls on fears of possible c.bank intervention

* Singapore dollar eases, further weakness expected

SINGAPORE, June 29 - The Thai baht fell on Monday on caution over possible intervention by the Bank of Thailand to weaken the unit to help exporters, while most of its regional peers also eased slightly in tandem with Asian stocks.

The U.S. dollar regained some ground against major currencies <.DXY> after falling broadly late last week on a renewed call by China for a super-sovereign reserve currency. [ID:nT358330]

BAHT

The Thai baht <THB=TH> fell about 0.4 percent to 34.13 per dollar as the U.S. currency gained broadly and market participants fretted about possible dollar-buying intervention by the Bank of Thailand to weaken the local unit.

"I haven't seen BOT in the market today but think they will buy dollars at 34," said a trader in Bangkok.

Traders have suspected sporadic dollar-buying intervention by the central bank in recent sessions to prevent the unit, which has gained 6 percent since early March, from strengthening beyond 34 to the dollar.

Last week, Thailand's Finance Ministry forecast that the economy would shrink 2.5-3.5 percent this year, and Ekniti Nitithanprapas, a spokesman for the ministry's fiscal policy office, said a weaker baht will help the economy more than lower interest rates. [ID:nBKK508486]

SINGAPORE DOLLAR

The Singapore dollar <SGD=> eased a tad to 1.4558 per U.S. dollar as investors treaded cautiously amid persistent fears of possible official intervention.

Some traders reckon the Singapore dollar is close to the upper end of the central bank's undisclosed trade-weighted band.

"We see higher U.S. dollar/Singapore dollar and are also biased to sell Singapore dollar/Malaysian ringgit," said a trader in Singapore.

Malaysian ringgit eased to 2.4298 per Singapore dollar <SGDMYR=R> from Friday's close at 2.4263.

Analysts at OCBC Bank say they expect Singapore dollar to fall to 1.4720 against the U.S. dollar by the end of September, before rebounding to 1.4480 by the end of 2009. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0522 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 95.38 95.22 -0.17 Sing dlr 1.4539 1.4545 +0.04 Taiwan dlr 32.919 32.925 +0.02 Korean won 1288.30 1284.30 -0.31 Baht 34.04 33.98 -0.18 Peso 48.30 48.31 +0.02 Rupiah 10240.00 10220.00 -0.20 Rupee 48.14 48.09 -0.09 Ringgit 3.5330 3.5300 -0.08 Yuan 6.8340 6.8338 -0.00 Change so far in 2009 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 95.38 90.60 -5.01 Sing dlr 1.4539 1.4340 -1.37 Taiwan dlr 32.919 32.860 -0.18 Korean won 1288.30 1259.50 -2.24 Baht 34.04 34.80 +2.23 Peso 48.30 47.52 -1.60 Rupiah 10240.00 11000.00 +7.42 Rupee 48.14 48.71 +1.19 Ringgit 3.5330 3.4500 -2.35 Yuan 6.8340 6.8230 -0.16