The Japanese yen retreated from a five-year high against the US dollar this week as anticipation of further interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve continued to place pressure on Asian currencies.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen fell back against the dollar in Tokyo after soaring to a five-year high in Europe at the start of the week, as the greenback was bolstered by expectations of a US interest rate hike.
The Japanese currency stood at 103.61-63 to the dollar here Friday evening, slightly off from 102.97-103.00 to the dollar a week earlier.
Japanese importers stepped up buying back the dollar after the yen touched 101.67 in London on Monday, its highest level since December 1999. Market players grew cautious about possible yen-selling intervention by Japanese monetary authorities.
"Foreign investors bought the dollar on expectations of US rate hikes," UFJ Bank dealer Shigetake Nakayama said after the United States unit firmed up here on Friday.
Investors expect the US Federal Reserve to continue raising rates by a quarter point at a time in a bid to counter creeping inflationary pressures.
But Traders Securities currency strategist Rikiya Takebe said the dollar looked top-heavy "with bouts of offers from local exporters placed near and above 103.70 yen."
With a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers scheduled for early February, various countries have begun to warn against a weaker dollar, the business daily Nihon Keizai said on its Internet edition Friday.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is expected to come under fresh pressure from the greenback next week amid expectations of US interest rate hikes, dealers said.
The "Aussie" finished the week at 75.88 US cents, down slightly on last week's 75.93 US cents after range-bound trading in a market still emerging from holiday mode.
Westpac currency strategist Robert Rennie said the greenback was boosted by indications from US Federal Reserve officials that monetary policy would be tightened. "Ongoing Fed-speak is becoming slightly more US dollar supportive," he said.
RBC currency strategist Greg Gibbs said the US dollar was likely to continue gaining strength against the Australian currency.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 70.52 US cents, up from 70.03 US cents the previous week.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The US dollar was at 1.6371 Singapore dollars on Thursday from 1.6357 the previous week.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: Hong Kong's US-pegged dollar was at 7.799 to the greenback on Friday from 7.778 a week earlier.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The Indonesian rupiah closed at 9,155-9,160, little changed compared to 9,155-9,165 to the dollar a week earlier.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso traded higher at 55.55 to the dollar on Friday, January 21 compared to 55.66 to the dollar on January 14.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 1,038.10 won per dollar Friday, compared with 1,043 won a week earlier.
A dealer with Shinhan Bank said should the dollar further strengthen to 104 yen per dollar, the dollar-won exchange rate would reach 1,048 won.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar rose 0.33 percent over the week to end at 31.913 against the greenback Friday. It finished at 32.019 a week ago.
The unit stood at 31.804 Monday and closed at 31.893 Tuesday. It ended at 31.802 Wednesday and finished at 31.875 Thursday.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht slightly appreciated against the US dollar over the past week, due to the dollar's ongoing weakness against major currencies coupled with ongoing capital inflows, dealers said.
The Thai unit Thursday hit its highest level against the greenback since May 2000, at 38.56 baht to one dollar.
But the baht retreated slightly Friday to close at 38.60-64 to the dollar, compared to the previous week's close of 38.70-74.