Asian currencies move up

Asian currencies rose against the dollar and the Japanese yen shot up to a three-month high after finance chiefs called on China to ease controls on its currency.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen jumped to a three-month high in the past week after G7 finance chiefs urged China to make its currency more flexible to help redress global economic imbalances, dealers said.
The Japanese currency stood at 114.25 to the dollar late Friday, up from 117.61 to the dollar a week earlier.
Yen-buying sentiment emerged during the week after finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialised nations ramped up the pressure on China to relax its grip on its currency.
The statement was taken as a call for Asian countries, and especially China, to allow their currencies to appreciate faster and further against the dollar as part of a strategy to tackle global imbalances, most notably the massive US trade and current account deficits.
"It's a very specific statement calling for China to do more on the currency front and the market read it as a signal for the US dollar to move lower," said Thio Chin Loo, a currency strategist with BNP Paribas in Singapore.
The yen extended its strength toward the end of the week as the dollar fell sharply after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted the US central bank was close to a pause in its string of interest rate hikes.
The greenback was further pressured by news that China's central bank was raising interest rates for the first time since 2004 although dealers said the actual effect of the decision was likely to be muted.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar was expected to rise further in the coming week after trading at a three-month high Friday amid weakness in the US dollar and expectation of a local interest rate hike, dealers said.
The currency was trading at 75.47 US cents at 5:00 pm (0600 GMT) Friday, well above the previous week's 73.81 US cents. The currency hit a high of 75.70 US cents during Friday, its highest point since January 31.
Dealers said the Aussie was supported by the expectation of a rise in local interest rates.
The Reserve Bank of Australia meets this week to discuss monetary policy and while a hike in interest rates is considered unlikely this month, the expectation of a future rate increase is already being built in, they said.
"Factors favour the Aussie for the week ahead," CMC Markets' Josh Whiting said.
"Unless we see a dramatic pullback in commodity prices... we will continue to see buyers favouring the Aussie."
However, Whiting said the Aussie was likely to see "fairly strong resistance around the 76 US cent mark."
"It hasn't been above the 76 US cent mark for about six months now," he said.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 63.36 US cents, up from 62.79 the previous Friday.
The kiwi benefited from weakness in the US dollar at the start of the week but lost a cent on Tuesday in illiquid trading during a New Zealand holiday. It gained again late in the week as the US dollar again weakened against major currencies.
CHINESE YUAN: The Chinese yuan closed stronger Friday at 8.0140 to the dollar, after a surprise lending rate hike announced by the central bank the day before. This compared with a closing price of 8.0170 on April 22.
The People's Bank of China raised its key one-year benchmark loan rate by 27 basis points to 5.85 percent, and lending rates for loans on other terms were also increased in the bank's first rate hike since October 2004.
Friday's central parity rate was set at 8.0165 to the dollar. The central bank has a yuan-dollar trading band of 0.3 percent on either side of the midpoint.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: The US-dollar pegged Hong Kong dollar closed the week at 7.7548 from the previous week's close of 7.7542.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah ended the week slightly weaker at 8,800-8,810, compared to the previous week's close of 8,875-8,885.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso fell to 51.785 to the dollar on Friday afternoon, compared to 51.69 on April 21.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The dollar was at 1.5824 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.5983 the previous week.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 943.40 won per dollar Friday, down 1.5 won from the previous day and down 5.2 won from 948.60 won a week earlier, reflecting the global depreciation of the US currency.
Finance Economy Minister Han Duck-Soo said the government would stage a hectic battle against speculative investors to secure the stability of the won.
The won has risen more than six percent against the greenback this year alone.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar rose 1.23 percent in the week to April 28 to close at 31.913 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 32.309 a week earlier.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht continued to appreciate against the dollar in the past week, in line with rallies by the Japanese yen, even though the Thai central bank governor conceded that the bank has intervened to soften the baht in past four months, dealer said.
The Thai baht closed Friday at a six-year high of 37.49-51 baht to one dollar, compared to last week's close of 37.77-80.
Against the euro Thai unit closed at 47.11-17 baht to one euro compared to previous week's close of 46.60-66.