Most Asian currencies lost ground on Monday as rising Sino-US trade fiction cast a cloud over investor sentiment, while better-than-expected data lent some support to the Singapore dollar and the Thai baht.
Investors stayed away from big bets and waited for further details on trade talks between the world's two top economies, after US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was not "thrilled" with the Phase-1 deal reached in January.
The White House's top economic adviser said the deal had not been abandoned and that talks were continuing between both nations, but markets still remained wary.
Furthermore, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sounded a note of caution on Sunday, saying a US economic recovery may stretch deep into next year and a full comeback may hinge on finding a coronavirus vaccine.
The Chinese yuan eased 0.1% to 7.109 against the dollar, while the trade-sensitive South Korean won also fell by the same margin.
The offshore Philippine peso fell nearly 0.5%, extending losses of nearly 1% it suffered towards the end of last week.
The Indian rupee slipped 0.4% after a nationwide lockdown was extended until May 31 as cases of the novel coronavirus exceeded 90,000, amid clashes between police and stranded migrant workers over curbs. The Indonesian rupiah traded a shade weaker ahead of a central bank meeting on Tuesday where rates are expected to be cut for the third time this year in a bid to boost a sagging economy, according to a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, the Singapore dollar ticked higher, supported by data that showed the country's annual exports rose for the third straight month in April, boosted by a sharp rise in pharmaceutical shipments.
Non-oil domestic exports rose 9.7% from last year, beating a forecast of a 5% decline in a Reuters poll.
The Thai baht inched higher after data showed the economy contracted at its sharpest pace in eight years in the first quarter but by a smaller margin than expected.
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