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Emerging FX-Rally in Asian high-yielders extends warily

SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) The Indonesian rupiah, Philippine peso and other Asian high-yielders extended their recovery on Friday after a rally in stock markets helped investors overcome some of their concerns about global credit markets.

Stock markets in South Korea, Taiwan and some other parts of Asia <0#.INDEXA> rallied in line with moves overnight in U.S. stocks, but talk of further delinquencies in the U.S. subprime sector and a rise in U.S. Treasuries showed investors were still wary of taking on risk.

The dollar held above a four-month low against the yen , showing a pause in the unwinding of carry trades funded by the cheap yen, as investors waited for a U.S. payrolls report later in the day.

The rupiah was traded at 9,275 per dollar, about 0.7 per cent away from the week's low at 9,340. The peso still kept a broadly steady range of 45.60 to 45.80 per dollar, slightly up from Thursday's low of 45.93.

The Malaysian ringgit's moves were slow as it gained 0.1 per cent to hit 3.4645 per dollar.

''The markets are looking more stable but I doubt risk appetite has recovered,'' said Bank of America strategist Christy Tan.

''A negative surprise on non-farm payrolls, and if that translates into another round of sell-off in equity markets, could be one of the key risks for the weekend,'' she said.

Another Singapore-based trader said a hedge fund had bought billions of dollars worth of major currencies on Thursday against the yen, including purchases of U.S. dollars, the Aussie , kiwi and other crosses.

That helped stall the heavy unwinding of carry trades which had boosted the yen, he said.

''But dollar/Asia has been sold a lot this year and now we've seen heavy short-covering. That momentum has made the peso, won and other Asian currencies move a lot in the last few days,'' he said.

REUTERS RJ BD0847

Scientists use satellites to track endangered macaws

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 3 (Reuters) Scarlet macaws threatened by illegal poachers and land invaders who slash and burn their jungle habitat in Guatemala now have scientists watching out for them from space. Researchers recently fit two of the red, yellow and blue-plumed parrots with satellite collars that send to computers information about their movements through the thick canopy of trees in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. ''Before this we were only able to look at scarlet macaws.....

Women to be main financial decision-makers by 2020

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) More women than men will make financial decisions in the home in just over a decade, according to a report published today. The fairer sex will have the final say in the majority of financial decisions in Britain's homes by 2020, if current trends continue, according to National Savings&Investments. The government-backed savings provider said that men currently make key financial decisions in 20 per cent of households, a decline of 2 per cent.....

Researcher aims to explain toddlers' 'word spurt'

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) Parents know that at about 18 months of age, toddlers start talking up a storm -- a vocabulary surge dubbed a ''word spurt'' -- and some scientists have credited complex brain mechanisms. But a simpler explanation may suffice, University of Iowa psychology professor Bob McMurray proposed in research appearing in the journal Science yesterday. Using computer simulations and mathematical analysis, McMurray suggested that learning sufficient numbers of simple words paves the way for.....
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