Most Asian regional currencies traded within recent ranges on Monday, putting the uneventful weekend Group of Seven meeting behind them.
Markets were also unmoved by the re-emergence of Sars in China, but dealers said that was a risk to watch out for.
The South Korean won was the lead performer, gaining close to half a percent to hit a five-session high of 1,152.3 to a dollar. The won was also slightly higher at 10.57 against the yen.
Hit by a sharper than expected fall in factory output in March, the Singapore dollar eased more than a quarter of a percent to touch 1.7010 per US dollar. But it managed to stay away from a five-week low of 1.7030 hit on Friday.
Singapore also revised down its February output data, from an originally reported small rise, raising doubts over the advanced gross domestic product estimates for the first quarter released on April 12.
David Simmonds, currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore, said the negative surprise on the output data and possible downward revision of GDP growth was unlikely to reverse the view on the Singapore dollar.
"But it does reinforce the view that any gains in the Sing dollar will come rather slowly," he said.
He said for the near term he would advise investors to patiently stick to long positions in the won and the Taiwan dollar rather than taking a risk on the Sing dollar.
A communiqué issued by the G7 on Saturday repeated verbatim the language used in the group's prior meeting, in February.
The group said excessive volatility and disorderly movements were unwelcome and that more flexibility in exchange rates was desirable for countries that lacked such a flexibility.
David said the September G7 meeting in Dubai and the February meeting in Florida, which made references to Asia's currency policy, were exceptionally exciting for an otherwise "usually boring" event.
Peter Redward, strategist at Deutsche Bank in Singapore, said that if G7 countries were comfortable with the recent trend in currencies, Asian regionals should continue to gain on the back of the region's improving economic outlook.
"The ongoing reflation trade will continue, dollar/Asia will remain heavy and on a trade-weighted basis Asian currency gains will be significant," Redward said.
Currency markets in the region showed little response to reports of new cases of the potentially deadly Sars disease in China. A global outbreak of the virus last year hit travel and business activity in the region.
A woman suspected of having Sars died on Friday and two more people were confirmed to have contracted the virus in Beijing. A total of 337 people were reported under observation in the Chinese capital.
Dealers said investors generally believed that authorities in China and elsewhere were well prepared and equipped to swiftly contain any outbreak.
Simmonds, however, said markets could start getting worried if the virus appeared to be spreading.
"This is a beast worth keeping an eye on," he said.
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