Asian currencies rose against the dollar during the week amid concern over the US current account deficit, uncertainty ahead of the US election and a surprise hike in the cost of borrowing in China.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen rallied to six-month highs against the dollar while China's decision to hike interest rates for the first time in a nearly a decade drew mixed reactions.
The Japanese currency stood at 105.85-88 to the dollar at 5:00 pm (0800 GMT) Friday after touching a high of 105.80 to the dollar at one point. It was sharply up from 107.58-60 to the dollar a week earlier.
Dealers said the dollar was expected to remain bearish amid lingering worries over the ballooning US current account deficit but fears of official Japanese intervention would cap the yen's upside.
Market views were divided on the impact of China's credit-tightening move on Thursday. But some dealers saw the move as positive in managing the economy and good for the dollar in the longer term.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi currency analyst Masashi Hashimoto said caution over Japan's official market intervention "may block the US unit's sharp slide below the 106 yen mark, at least over the short term."
The result of the US presidential election on Tuesday is expected to destabilise the market after the yen was bought to hedge against a victory by Democrat candidate John Kerry reputed for his protectionist trade policy, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
If incumbent President George W. Bush emerged the winner, it might lead to "temporary dollar buybacks," the business daily added on its Internet edition. "But the strong yen trend may continue due to worries over the US current account deficit."
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is expected to edge downwards next week as markets await the outcome of the US election and absorb the implications of China's surprise interest rate rise, dealers said.
The Aussie ended the week at 74.67 US cents, up from the previous week's 73.07 US cents.
ABN Amro head of foreign exchange strategy David Mozina said the initial knee-jerk reaction to the Chinese rate hike was for the market to buy US dollars, with other currencies getting pounded as a result.
But he said in the near term, the Australian dollar could be dragged down by weaker resource stocks after the currency posted solid gains in recent weeks.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: New Zealand's dollar closed Friday worth 68.15 US cents, down on the 69.25 cents close of a week earlier.
Its fall came after Thursday's central bank announcement that it had ended its tightening cycle.
Dealers said the move could be part of a substantial move down in the kiwi-aussie cross rate, something that most exporters will welcome.
ANZ Investment Bank dealer Mark Elliott said there had been a significant unwinding of kiwi-Aussie positions with the Aussie cross rate deemed to be highly sensitive to interest rate differentials.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The US dollar was at 1.6635 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.6694 the previous week.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: Hong Kong's US-pegged dollar was at 7.7834 Friday from 7.7860 a week earlier.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The Indonesian rupiah ended the week almost unchanged at 9,090/9,095 to the dollar compared to 9,097/9,102 the previous week.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso fell to 56.325 to the dollar on Friday afternoon from 56.315 to the dollar on October 22.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The dollar-won exchange rate plunged to 1,119.60 won to the dollar, a four-year low, from 1,140.70 won a week earlier, amid the global weakness of the greenback and the weakening of government intervention aimed at preventing the won's appreciation.
The government came under harsh criticism during an annual parliamentary inspection of government administration in the past week for using hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent the won from strengthening in order to help boost exports.
A dealer with KorAm Bank said the won was likely to continue strengthening against the dollar in the coming week as exporters were expected to keep selling their hard currency earnings amid the ongoing global weakness of the US currency.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar rose 1.07 percent over the week to end at 33.435 against the greenback Friday. It finished at 33.796 a week ago.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht strongly appreciated against the US dollar over the past week as the greenback weakened amid uncertainty ahead of next week's presidential election, dealers said.
The baht closed Friday at a three-month high of 41.05-07 baht to the dollar compared to the previous week's close of 41.29-31.
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