SINGAPORE, December 12: It was yet another gloomy day for the Asian stock and currency markets, with South Korea's beleaguered won leading the plunge. Seoul's composite stock index lost 26.69 points or 7.1 per cent to close at 350.68, its lowest in ten years.

The won wrapped up the day at 1,710 to the greenback, off a low of 1,891 and a high of 1,600, even as credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the Korean growth rate for next year by 2 per cent. Even the backdown by the two rival presidential candidates, giving the thumbs up to the IMF package, did not succeed in buoying the currency.

Analysts concur that the scale of bad debts due for repayment shortly, will ensure that the financial turmoil in the country and the region will continue to simmer for quite some time. The "contagion" effect is continuing to take its toll of the Asean currency and stock markets, as today's plunge indicates.

Led by the won's fall, the rupiah fared badly, diving to 4,950 to the dollar at one stage, to recover only marginally to 5,120. The Indonesian currency has now lost more than half its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year. The decline was exacerbated by concerns about President Suharto's health.

Today's news was that Suharto will not be attending Asean's 30th anniversary summit beginning in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. The financial crisis overtaking the region is to be the top item on the summit agenda, followed by an articulation of regional security concerns. The Singapore dollar was also affected today by the Korean contagion, plunging to 1.65 against the greenback, its lowest level since February 1993.

Both the Thai baht and the Philippine peso reached record lows, the former touching 45, and the latter 37.36 to the dollar, Today's decline in the won's value came on the heels of yesterday's plunge to 1,719.80, fuelling speculation that the ailing "tiger" economy will need quicker delivery of rescue funds under a US $ 57 billion IMF-led bailout package to resuscitate its financial system.

The currency has lost over 50 per cent of its value against the greenback this year and this has enlarged its short-term foreign debt to US$100 billion from earlier estimates of US$60 billion.

Kuala Lumpur stocks didn't escape the contagion. At midday, the composite index was off 3.46 percent, or 20.36 points, at 568.82, lower than the 589.18 level seen on Thursday. The Malaysian ringgit fell to 3.79, lower than yesterday's close of 3.72 to the US dollar.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.