Asian currencies nudged higher on Friday, reversing the previous day's falls as the market focus returned to the prospect of a pause in the US Federal Reserve's two-year campaign of lifting interest rates.
The Philippine peso was the exception to the general trend, slipping to a two-week low at 51.80 per dollar amid demand for the US currency from oil importers.
Elsewhere, the Japanese yen led the charge higher against the dollar. It strengthened beyond the psychological 110-level to an eight-month high, adding more than 1 percent from levels seen in late Asian trade on Thursday.
The Indonesian rupiah firmed to about 8,700 per dollar, nearing this week's two-year high at about 8,685, before trimming gains later in the session.
The Taiwan dollar rose about a third of a percent to 31.36 per US dollar, while the South Korean won rose 0.4 percent to about 932 per dollar before falling back slightly due to foreign selling on the local stock market.
Foreign investors sold a net 99.1 billion won worth of local shares on Friday in a third day of net selling.
"Asian currencies are trying to balance out between two things - foreign selling of equities and a weaker dollar," said Craig Chan, a currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong.
"Overnight, we've had weak consumption data, a sell off in equities and commodity prices have gone higher again so this combination has led the dollar lower."
On Thursday, the regionals had weakened against the dollar after a US Treasury report on currency practices stopped short of calling China a currency manipulator, easing immediate pressure on Beijing to speed up the pace of yuan appreciation.
But the dollar faced renewed selling pressure on Friday after data overnight showed US retail sales rose a smaller-than-expected 0.5 percent in April, supporting the view that the Fed may not raise rates next month.
The Fed lifted its key rate a quarter of a point to 5 percent on Wednesday. It said it may need to raise rates again to contain inflation but that further tightening would depend on the economic outlook.
Dealers said focus was now US trade data due later this session, with a further widening in the trade deficit likely to put more pressure on the dollar.
Overall trade in Asia was subdued, with markets in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand closed for a holiday, but the Singapore dollar and Thai baht notched up slight gains against the US currency in offshore trade.
Recent under-performance in the peso, meanwhile, continued.
Renewed worries about the state of Philippine government finances as oil prices soar and a seasonal slowdown in money sent home by overseas workers has undermined the peso, pushing it down about 1.8 percent from a 3-1/2-year high of 50.88 set in March.
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