Asian currencies made small gains against the US dollar in the past week as the greenback remained weak against the yen ahead of Japan's upper house election on Sunday.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen seesawed against the dollar in the past week on concerns over political uncertainties in Japan ahead of Sunday's upper house election.
The Japanese currency stood at 108.26-28 to the dollar at 5:00 pmh (0800 GMT) on Friday, up from 109.00-03 to the dollar a week earlier.
It neared the mid-109 level on Tuesday on concerns that structural reforms spearheaded by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government may be affected by an electoral possible setback for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
But it rallied into the 107 range at one point on Friday.
If the LDP fails to secure sufficient seats, Koizumi might not be able to keep Heizo Takenaka as minister with economy and fiscal policy as well as financial services portfolios, UBS executive director Makoto Kojima said.
"As Takenaka is the symbol of reform policy, his departure would considerably change foreign investors' perception about the prospect of reform in Japan," he said.
The economic journal Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on its Internet edition: "In order to forecast the yen's trend, it is necessary to follow how foreign investors assess the election outcome."
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is expected to tread water next week after posting strong gains against the greenback that further consolidated its position above 70 US cents, dealers said.
The currency finished the week on 72.33 US cents, up almost two US cents on last week's 70.44 US cents.
Deutsche Bank currency strategist Richard Yetsenga said a quiet upcoming week in the United States was likely to slow the Australian dollar's momentum after it rose on expectations the US Federal Reserve will maintain a "measured" approach to interest rate rises.
"There's not a lot out in the US, which has obviously been important to the Aussie and this raises the issue of what drives things next week," Yetsenga said.
He said the Australian dollar was not figuring prominently in currency dealers' international strategies.
"The action has been in the dollar/yen and the euro, so the Aussie has benefited ... but it has kind of been by de facto, rather than being at the forefront of what's going on," he said. Macquarie Bank divisional director Geoff Bowmer agreed that the Australia dollar's direction hinged on what the greenback did.
"We are pretty much in the hands of the US dollar looking forward, if it is going to maintain a weak stance then the Aussie is going to stay up," he said.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: New Zealand's dollar closed Friday worth 65.75 US cents against a close a week earlier of 63.84 cents.
Westpac chief currency dealer Basil Payn said it had a big week and ended quietly. The kiwi has risen the best part of two cents in the last week as the greenback showed renewed weakness.
Payn expected a reasonably quiet offshore session ahead with resistance at 66 cents likely proving hard to breach and good support at 65.30 cents.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The US dollar was at 1.7039 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.7152 the previous week.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong's US-pegged dollar was at 7.7992 on Friday from 7.7999 the previous week.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The Indonesian rupiah ended the week stronger at 8,920/8,930 to the dollar compared with 9,145-9,160 the previous week.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso traded higher at 55.790 to the dollar late Friday, up from 55.970 on July 2.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 1,149.30 won per dollar, compared with 1,155.10 won to the greenback a week earlier, as the US currency remained weak against the yen.
Dealers say the dollar-won exchange rate would decline further in the coming week because of the weak US currency against the yen but its fall would be limited by government's intervention and the net foreign sell of South Korean shares.
A dealer with the Industrial Bank of Korea said the dollar-won exchange rate would find strong support at 1,145 won per dollar.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar rose marginally higher over the week to end at 33.719 against the greenback Friday. The unit stood at 33.710 on Monday and declined to close at 33.733 on Tuesday. It rose to 33.712 on Wednesday and finished at 33.746 Thursday. The currency closed at 33.724 last Friday.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht remained relatively stable against the dollar over the past week amid thin trade and a lack of major factors, dealers said.
The unit closed Friday at 40.76-78 baht to the dollar compared to the previous week's close of 40.72-75.
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