SINGAPORE: Most emerging Asian currencies inched lower on Monday against a dollar that held steady with traders cautious amid lingering concerns over a US-China trade dispute.
Against a basket of six major peers, the dollar last stood at 89.967, having backed off from a one-week high of 90.178 set last Thursday.
The US currency had risen against the yen last week, helped by signs China and the United States were working behind the scenes to avoid a full-blown trade war, but some analysts say the dollar's gains against the yen may be limited in the near term.
China has slapped extra tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 US products including frozen pork, as well as on wine and certain fruits and nuts, in response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel, China's finance ministry said.
"It's a pretty quiet day here; we're seeing EM Asia FX move with tight range with no clear direction, just following dollar index movement," said Nath Wongsaroj, corporate treasury trader at Mizuho Bank.
The Malaysian ringgit hit nearly a two-year high in early trade before slipping slightly.
Indonesia's rupiah inched up 0.1 percent, while the Thai baht, the Singapore dollar and the Philippine peso were little changed.
Indonesia's annual inflation rate accelerated in March, but remained within the central bank's target range, while Thailand's annual headline inflation rate rose in March, but missed forecasts and was below the central bank's target range.
The Chinese yuan edged lower, down as much as 0.2 percent.
China's manufacturing activity expanded at its weakest pace in four months in March as export demand faltered, prompting companies to shed staff more quickly as they looked to cut costs, a private survey found.
South Korea's won was the biggest advancer, gaining as much as 0.6 percent to its highest in three-and-a-half years.
Bond and currency markets in India were closed for a holiday.
SOUTH KOREAN WON
The South Korean won rose for a third straight session on Monday, up as much as 0.6 percent against the US dollar, its highest since October 2014.
The won was quoted at 1,057.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.55 percent firmer than its previous close at 1,063.5.
The United States and South Korea agreed to revise their six-year-old trade pact with a side deal to deter competitive currency devaluation by Seoul and with concessions for US autos and pharmaceutical companies, Trump administration officials said last week.
The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the dollar at 0444 GMT.
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