(Adds text, updates prices) * Asian currencies slip as risk assets retreat * Moves turn cautious ahead of c.bank meetings * Dollar may see some consolidation vs Asia FX -analyst By Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) - Asian currencies fell against the dollar on Tuesday, losing some steam after their recent rally, with the focus on central bank policy decisions due this week.
The Indonesian rupiah retreated from a 10-month high set on Monday, while the Singapore dollar pulled away from a 4-1/2 month peak touched late last week.
The won was dragged lower by a decline in South Korean shares, but gained some support from dollar-selling by local exporters, traders said.
In addition to policy decisions by Malaysia's central bank on Wednesday and the Bank of Korea on Thursday, there is focus on the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday.
"We expect volatility to start picking up again," said Christopher Wong, senior FX analyst for Maybank. "We may see consolidation for the dollar against Asian currencies." Data showing that China's exports in February recorded their worst drop since May 2009 did little to ease the soft tone of Asian currencies, which were already on the defensive before the release of the numbers.
Emerging Asian currencies have rallied this month as improving U.S. economic data plus a recovery in oil prices helped reduce concerns about the outlook for global growth and spurred buying of risk assets.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR The Singapore dollar's trade-weighted exchange rate, or its nominal effective exchange (NEER), probably poked above the mid-point of the central bank's policy band recently, said Andy Ji, Asian currency strategist for Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
He said the move was triggered by the U.S. dollar's recent fall.
That move left the Singapore dollar NEER looking overvalued, Ji said, especially when taking into account the fact that Singapore's headline consumer price index has fallen year-on-year for 15 straight months, and fourth-quarter year-on-year economic growth was less than 2 percent.
"With the April policy meeting just a month away, market participants are expected to start positioning for an additional easing step," Ji said in a research note this week.
A Reuters poll conducted last week showed that while the risk of monetary easing has risen as global headwinds buffet Singapore's trade-reliant economy, most analysts expect the Monetary Authority of Singapore to keep policy unchanged at its semiannual policy review in April, with the median chance of easing seen at about 27 percent.