Most Asian currencies were stuck in narrow ranges on Thursday ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, while fears of a China virus outbreak exerted pressure on some markets.
A bellwether for risk sentiment in the region, the yuan
weakened 0.2% while yields on China's 10-year government bonds tumbled, reflecting persistent worries about the outbreak as the death toll climbed.
With hundreds of millions of Chinese expected to travel during the new year holiday beginning on Friday in China until Jan. 30, markets feared the transmission rate would accelerate.
However, Chinese efforts to contain the spread, including putting a lockdown on Wuhan - a city of 11 million people at the epicentre of the crisis - has helped calm nerves and limit steeper losses.
With no direction from Chinese markets and a number of other Asian countries set to close for the new year break, trade is likely to be muted next week.
"Today then represents the last day for investors to rejig their portfolios properly ahead of all the market holidays," wrote Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA.
"It is thus, quite understandable that some money would be taken off the table until the true extent of the coronavirus issue becomes obvious. No one ever went broke taking a profit."
Most Asian currencies were flat, while the Korean won and Thai baht eased 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.
The Indonesian rupiah strengthened marginally ahead of the central bank's policy meeting where Bank Indonesia is expected to keep rates on hold, allowing a series of previous cuts to filter into the economy, according to a Reuters poll.
An improvement in Philippine economic growth at the year-end kept the peso afloat. However, even as the economy grew 6.4% in the final quarter, full-year growth slightly missed the government's target, nudging up bets for a February rate cut.
A Reuters poll found that investors' positions on the Indian rupee turned bullish for the first time in more than five months.
The pace of decline in India's auto sales has eased, while industrial production turned positive in November after a three-month fall, suggesting the country's economic growth is finally bottoming out, analysts at ANZ said in a note.
However, they urged caution over a full recovery, given the combination of ongoing stresses in the financial sector, inadequate policy transmission and a recent spurt in inflation.
The currency was the region's worst performer in 2019 after the won, weakening 2.3%.
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