Most regional currencies fell against the US dollar over the week, particularly the Japanese yen. The Australian dollar continued its retreat after recently touching seven-year highs.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen lost ground during the week on growing fears that Japan would continue intervening to stem any rise in its currency, dealers said.
The Japanese currency stood at 107.34 to the dollar late Friday, down from 105.38-40 yen a week earlier.
Investors are "convinced that Japanese monetary authorities are determined to curb the yen's strength", said Kikuko Takeda, foreign exchange manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
The Bank of Japan, at the request of the Ministry of Finance, is believed to have intervened aggressively to sell yen for dollars during the week, capitalising after the yen remained under 105 against the dollar even after positive Japanese economic data, Takeda said.
The Cabinet Office on Wednesday said the economy grew 1.7 percent in real terms in the December quarter for an annual rate of 7.0 percent, the best performance among the Group of Seven major nations.
The figures were the highest for more than 13 years but the dollar held steady above 105.50 yen at the time and has continued to climb.
Japan wants to prevent a sharp rise in the yen as it hurts exporters by making their goods less price competitive abroad and reduces their repatriated overseas earnings. This in turn could jeopardise Japan's export-led economic recovery.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is expected to face another volatile week after a roller-coaster period that saw it fall from seven-year highs, dealers said.
The Australian currency ended the week at 77.07 US cents, down on the previous week's 78.8 US cents as it continued to retreat from recent highs exceeding US 80 cents.
NM Rothschild foreign exchange director Paul Macarounas said the Australian dollar was tracking the euro, which had been volatile because of uncertainty over European interest rates.
Macarounas said he did not expect the European Central Bank board to move on interest rates when it meets next week, so the local currency would remain in the 76.5-78.5 US cent range.
"Currencies are still a little bit vulnerable to a further sell-off, the market is generally long," he said.
Citigroup Global Markets director and strategist Stephen Halmarick said the greenback was likely to depreciate in the medium term, pushing the Australian currency back towards 80 US cents,
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: New Zealand's dollar ended Friday at 68.73 US cents, down from 70.10 cents a week earlier.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah closed the week stronger at 8,454-8,459 to the dollar compared with the previous week's close of 8,434-8,439.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The peso fell to 56.305 against the US dollar Friday from 56.288 the previous week. Dealers blamed the peso's volatility on political instability ahead of the May presidential election.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won weakened to 1,167.30 won Friday, compared with 1,160.10 won per dollar a week earlier, reflecting the yen's rebound against the greenback.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar closed at 33.365 against the greenback Friday, down from 33.220 the previous week.
THAI BAHT: The baht fell against the dollar, closing Friday at 39.25-27 compared with the previous week's close of 39.11-22.
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