Asian currencies ended the week mostly up against the dollar, weakened by the ongoing financial crisis in the United States, but dealers said markets would likely remain volatile.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen jumped against the dollar early in the week after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, but ended the week only slightly up on hopes of a new US government plan to rescue troubled financial firms.
The Japanese currency stood at 107.31-34 yen to the dollar on Friday, slightly up from 107.49-50 a week earlier. On Tuesday, it had jumped to 104.03 briefly, the highest level since mid-July, on news of Lehman Brothers failing and insurer American International Group (AIG) seeking help.
The Japanese currency feel back after the US Federal Reserve announced a massive bailout package for AIG, before bouncing back to nearly the same level seen a week ago.
Barclays Bank chief forex strategist Toru Umemoto expected the yen will remain volatile next week "without clear direction" in the Asian market.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is due for a rally after falling some 20 percent over the past two months, but further falls are likely, analysts said. The Australian dollar ended the week trading at 81.15 US cents, up from the previous week's 80.63 US cents.
"The Australia dollar is due for a rally but the cycle has turned against it," said AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver. "With commodity prices likely to fall further, further interest rate cuts likely from the RBA (central bank) and hedge funds being forced to cut commodity-related trades in the face of increasing investor redemptions, further falls in the Australian dollar are likely over the next six months or so, with the next stop being around US 0.75.
"However, this should be seen as a cyclical correction, not the start of a long-term bear market in the Australian dollar, as the long-term trend in commodity prices is likely to remain up." The Australian currency has shed close to 20 percent against the US dollar since reaching a 25-year high of 98.49 US cents in mid-July.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 67.35 US cents, up from 65.37 the previous Friday. The kiwi fell on news released just before noon Friday of a record annual current account deficit of 14.97 billion dollars (9.89 billion US), which heightened the need for funding offshore.
CHINESE YUAN: The yuan closed at 6.8357 to the dollar Friday on the exchange-traded market, compared with Thursday's close of 6.8385, and a closing price of 6.8479 to the dollar the week before. On the over-the-counter market, it ended at 6.8350 to the dollar against 6.8340 the previous day.
The central bank had set the yuan central parity rate at 6.8276 to the dollar Friday, compared with 6.8201 on Thursday.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: The US-linked Hong Kong dollar was at 7.783 to the greenback, compared with 7.798 the week before.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah ended the week's trading at 9,375 to the dollar compared to 9,440 a week earlier.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippines peso rose to 46.555 to the dollar from 46.860 a week ago.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The dollar was at 1.4356 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.4362 the previous week.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won rode a roller coaster throughout the week on fears of contagion from the ongoing US credit crisis. The market, closed on Monday for a national holiday, reopened Tuesday to see the won slump 50.90 won per dollar, the largest margin in 10 years, to close at 1,160.0 won to the greenback.
The won rebounded strongly the following day, gaining back 44 won to trade at 1,116 won, on hopes for the rescue of troubled US investment banks. On Thursday, the won sank back 37.30 won to 1,153.30 won before recovering to close at 1,139.70 on Friday.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar fell 0.37 percent to close at 32.158 against the US dollar, from 32.041 a week ago.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht rose sharply against the dollar over the past week because the greenback was weakened by the renewed US financial crisis, dealers said. The Thai unit closed Friday at 34.16-18 baht to one dollar compared to last week's close of 34.68-71.
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