Asia's major currencies, led by the yen, moved narrowly against the dollar last week and are expected to remain range-bound ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen stayed in a tight range against the dollar during the week as the US currency remained top heavy after the release of weaker-than-expected US economic data.
The Japanese unit stood at 109.73-76 to the dollar on Friday at 5:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), from 110.08-10 a week earlier.
Dealers said the dollar could gain strength if the US Federal Reserve is more forthcoming in raising rates when it holds a policy-setting meeting on Thursday.
"We need to see some shift in market sentiment that the Fed will move more aggressively on rates," Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi currency analyst Kikuko Takeda said. "That would support the dollar but that scenario is unlikely at this moment."
Under that scenario, the dollar is unlikely to break out of the recent narrow trading range, she said.
The Fed is widely expected to increase the key federal funds rate 0.25 percentage points to 1.75 percent this year, after rate hikes in June and August, dealers said.
It was announced on Thursday that US core consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in August, below expectations of a 0.2-percent gain, confirming the Federal Reserve's stance that inflation is under control.
"A view is emerging in the market that the correction of the super-easy monetary policy is approaching its final phase," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in its Internet edition.
It added market players would refrain from active deals in the coming week, particularly as Monday and Thursday are public holidays, while they await the release of a quarterly "Tankan" business confidence survey on October 1.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is likely to remain range-bound next week as it consolidates recent gains, dealers said.
The Australian currency ended the week at 69.92 US cents, almost a cent up on last weeks's 69.00 US cents.
ANZ senior currency strategist Craig Ferguson said the unit was entering a critical phase.
"We do tend to think that over the course of the next week we're going to get an explanation as to whether the Aussie has already made its base and is going to continue to move higher, or whether it breaks 68.50 US cents and is going to continue to decline," he said.
"The ranges are becoming very, very narrow in the currencies now, and whenever that occurs it's usually a precursor to a major break one way or the other.
"So I'd be expecting a resolution to that issue by the end of next week," he said.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: New Zealand's dollar was trading at 66.02 US cents on Friday, from 65.23 cents a week earlier.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The US dollar was worth 1.6888 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.6994 the week before.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: Hong Kong's US-pegged dollar was at 7.775 on Friday, from 7.7992 the previous week.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The Indonesian rupiah ended the week at 9,030/9,035 to the dollar compared with 9,275/9,285 the previous week.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso finished the week at 56.21 to the dollar compared with 56.14 to the dollar previously.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won was at 1,146.70 won per dollar on Friday, compared with 1,145.80 to the greenback a week earlier.
A dealer with Woori Bank said the dollar might be weak against the won in the coming week as exporters are expected to sell dollars ahead of the country's Chusok fall harvest holidays from September 27 to 29.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar was changing hands at 33.868 against the greenback on Friday after reaching 33.925 a week ago.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht gained sharply against the US dollar during the week thanks to capital inflows into the local stock exchange and the narrowing of Thai and overseas interest rates, dealers said.
The baht closed Friday trading at 41.28-30 baht to the greenback compared with last week's close of 41.57-60.
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