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Thursday July 3, 4:38 PM Emerging FX-Singapore dlr rises despite oil, peso at 9-month low SINGAPORE, July 3 (Reuters) - The Singapore dollar rose on Thursday, supported by expectations the authorities will keep it strong to contain price pressures, while inflation fears hit the Philippine peso and the South Korean won. The peso fell by 0.6 percent to a nine-month low of 45.45 per dollar and the won lost more than 1 percent after a $1 jump in oil prices added to fears that spiralling energy costs would hurt economic growth. "The spot (dollar/peso) market was busy, with some profit-taking close to 45.30," a Manila-based trader said. "Investors are still bearish on the peso, which is mainly tracking oil." Economists said Philippine inflation in June probably was at its highest in nearly a decade at 10.2 percent, a Reuters survey showed. The data is due on Friday. [ID:nMAN249435] Analysts Claudio Piron and Yen Ping Ho at JPMorgan said they expected the Philippine central bank to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its next monetary policy meeting on July 17. Despite recent dollar-selling support by the authorities, the analysts said they were wary of further peso weakness because of the continued rise in oil prices, falling equities and growing risk aversion. Expectations that authorities in Seoul will help the won by selling dollars initially pushed the local currency to a one-week high at 1,031 per dollar, but a spike in oil prices knocked it back by 1.1 percent to as low as 1,046.6 per dollar. In contrast, the Singapore dollar rose as far as 1.3575 per U.S. dollar, up a fifth of a percent from late Asian trade on Wednesday. "The Singapore dollar is fundamentally strong, a favourite currency for real money," said a trader in Singapore. Singapore's central bank is widely expected to keep its bias of letting the currency, which is its main policy tool, rise steadily when it reviews policy in October. RINGGIT, BAHT STRONGER The Malaysian ringgit also rose a fifth of a percent to 3.2645, but traders said the currency was headed towards lower levels of 3.3 against the dollar this month due to concerns over oil-push inflation and an unclear interest rate outlook. The Thai baht edged up 0.1 percent and managed to hit a 1-1/2-week high of 33.33 per dollar, and traders said authorities would probably not intervene if the currency continued to trade within a limited range. Traders said the central bank had been suspected of selling dollars to support the Thai currency earlier in the week. The Indonesian rupiah inched up to 9,210, its highest in almost a week, after the central bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 8.75 percent, the third rate hike this year.[ID:nJAK158537] The Chinese central bank set the yuan mid-point at 6.8529, the highest level since the currency's revaluation in July 2005, and the yuan failed to travel far from its previous close of 6.8530 per dollar. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0744 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 106.00 106.21 +0.20 Sing dlr 1.3578 1.3606 +0.21 Taiwan dlr 30.397 30.372 -0.08 Korean won 1044.00 1035.00 -0.86 Baht 33.35 33.37 +0.06 Peso 45.43 45.20 -0.51 Rupiah 9205.00 9220.00 +0.16 Rupee 43.30 43.16 -0.32 Ringgit 3.2650 3.2720 +0.21 Yuan 6.8525 6.8530 +0.01 Change so far in 2008 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 106.00 111.33 +5.03 Sing dlr 1.3578 1.4382 +5.92 Taiwan dlr 30.397 32.443 +6.73 Korean won 1044.00 935.70 -10.37 Baht 33.35 33.68 +0.99 Peso 45.43 41.28 -9.13 Rupiah 9205.00 9390.00 +2.01 Rupee 43.30 39.41 -8.98 Ringgit 3.2650 3.3050 +1.23 Yuan 6.8525 7.3041 +6.59 (Editing by Tomasz Janowski)