Asian currencies weakened slightly on Friday ahead of key US jobs data but outperformed the yen, which was undermined by wariness of Japanese intervention.
The Singapore dollar hit a three-month low of 1.7190 per dollar on Thursday but found some support during Asian trading.
The Korean won and Taiwan dollar were slightly weaker but supported by foreign equity investment inflows. Markets in Thailand were closed.
Analysts said the yen pinned near four-month lows around 111.30/40 per dollar and down nearly six percent from 3-1/2 year highs struck last month, had room to fall further and that could keep Asian currencies under some pressure.
"Technically the yen is looking at 112.75 as the next hurdle and that means there could be a further fallout on Asian currencies," said Claudio Piron, currency strategist with Standard Chartered Bank.
Markets were hoping the US non-farm jobs data would help determine if the dollar was set for further gains.
Yen/Asia cross rates showed regional currencies were treating their Japanese counterpart's decline lightly and traders recommended buying the regionals against the yen.
"When dollar/yen goes up, yen/Asia goes down and Asian currencies will outperform the yen when the yen is falling," said David Simmonds, a markets strategist with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Sing dollar/yen cross was at 64.85 yen, the strongest the Sing dollar has been against the yen since September. The Taiwan dollar/yen cross showed the Taiwan dollar yielding about 3.34 yen, the highest since September.
Simmonds said the trend was reminiscent of the yen's big fall after a prolonged rally against the dollar towards the end of 1999, when foreign equity flows and a strong growth outlook propped up Asian currencies and helped them outperform the yen.
The Indonesian rupiah hit a four-month low near 8,590 per dollar but the decline was checked by expectations of inflows from a $1.0 billion sovereign bond issue and a suspicion that the central bank was selling dollars.
Still, the currency has fallen 2.5 percent since early February and is being undermined by worries over upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections that start in April and could last till September, if a presidential run-off is required.
"The one major overhang is the election process in Indonesia," said M.R.Madhavan, regional strategist with Bank of America. "The elections in Indonesia are much more closely fought and volatile. It is also a long process and that gives rise to a lot of uncertainty."
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