Most Asian units up on better-than-expected yuan fix

Most Asian currencies firmed on Friday, helped by a better-than- expected yuan fix by China's central bank, while Washington's response to Beijing's passage of a national security law for Hong Kong remained in focus.
US President Donald Trump is due to announce later in the day his response to the Chinese parliament's advancement of security legislation for Hong Kong, which many lawyers, diplomats and investors fear could erode the city's freedoms.
Hong Kong has warned Washington that the withdrawal of the financial hub's special status could backfire on the US economy. The Chinese yuan inched down to 7.147 against the greenback in onshore trade. While China's central bank set the midpoint of the yuan weaker than its previous fix, traders said the official fixing was set firmer than market projections for a third straight session.
"The yuan fixing came through better than feared, suggesting that the authorities are not turning to weakening the yuan at present despite the deteriorating relations between US and China," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG Asia.
Leading gains in the region, the Indonesian rupiah advanced 0.7% to 14,575 against the dollar. A Bank Indonesia official confirmed that dollar selling by foreign banks supported the rupiah, adding, it was in line with strengthening in the domestic non-deliverable forward market.
Governor Perry Warjiyo said on Thursday the central bank thinks the rupiah has the potential to strengthen to pre-COVID-19 levels of around 13,600 to 13,800 to the dollar.
The Singapore dollar and South Korean won firmed 0.3% each. South Korea's finance minister pledged to take steps to stabilise its currency if volatility rises sharply in light of Sino-US tensions, adding that it was not desirable for the won coupling with the yuan.
The Indian rupee rose 0.2% during the session. The Taiwan dollar gained 0.2% and was on course to rise for the week, after three consecutive weekly declines. The currency is the top performer in the region so far this year.