Asian currencies under pressure

Jakarta's stock exchange took a battering last week and the Indonesian economy is under pressure from the global financial crisis but, ironically, the country's currency could be a good bet to outperform its neighbours in 2009.That, at least, is the conclusion of Sebastien Barbe, a currency strategist at Calyon, who argues that closed economies are likely to fare better than open ones once the crisis peaks and the global economy slows down into next year. This should benefit the India…