Asian currencies ended the week mixed against the greenback with the yen slightly lower following a surprise fall in confidence at large Japanese manufacturers while the Australian dollar was buoyed by strong commodity prices.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen edged down in the past week with investors disappointed at a surprise decline in confidence at big Japanese manufacturers, dealers said.
The Japanese currency stood at 117.74 to the dollar, slightly down from 117.47 a week earlier.
On Monday, the Bank of Japan's closely watched Tankan survey showed a drop in the headline index of sentiment among big manufacturers to 20 in March from 21 in the December survey.
The market had been looking for a rise to plus 23 but took the view that the dip in sentiment would not derail the overall economic recovery.
"Disappointment over the softer Tankan report triggered yen-selling," said Kenji Kobayashi, a senior forex manager at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
But the Japanese unit recovered part of the loss on Tuesday after the dollar came under pressure as the US Institute for Supply Management said that the pace of manufacturing growth slowed in March.
Its main index fell to 55.2 percent in March from 56.7 percent in February, against expectations of a modest pick-up to 57.3 percent.
"The weak US data triggered dollar-selling but there were buy orders from domestic importers at the middle of the 117-yen level," said Mitsuru Sahara, senior forex manager at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar is expected to consolidate gains in the coming week after rebounding from 18-month lows on the back of strong commodity prices and expectations of an interest rate hike, dealers said.
The currency was trading at 73.22 US cents shortly after 5:00 pm (0600 GMT) Friday, up on the previous week's 71.65 US cents.
CMC Markets analyst Josh Whiting said the Australian dollar had been buoyed by better-than-expected domestic data which raised expectations of an interest rate hike.
"Having rallied by such a long way and with little data out next week I expect that it may just consolidate the recent run," he said.
Provided there were no surprises in data from the United States, the Australian dollar was expected to trade at about 73 US cents in the coming week, he added.
AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said his assessment was that the Australian dollar was unlikely to break out of the range in which it has traded for the past two years - from 68 US cents to 80 US cents.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 61.38 US cents, slightly up from 61.18 the previous Friday.
The kiwi steadied during the week after sharp falls in the previous week. It fell to 60.48 US cents by Tuesday's close of local trading but pushed back up over 61 cents a day later, helped by softness in the US dollar. ANZ Bank strategists said they expect the local dollar to be under pressure in the next week.
CHINESE YUAN: The Chinese yuan closed down at 8.0111 to the dollar in over-the-counter (OTC) foreign exchange trading, after closing at a new high on each of the previous two days.
The yuan closed yesterday at 8.0080 in the OTC market.
The central bank set a central parity rate of 8.0130 to the dollar before the start of trading on friday, allowing a yuan-dollar trading band of 0.3 pct on either side of the midpoint.
On march 31, China's yuan finished at 8.0172.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The dollar was at 1.6048 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.6179 the previous week.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: The US-pegged Hong Kong dollar traded at 7.7628 on Friday, from 7.7595 the previous week.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah closed Friday to end the week stronger at 8,990-8,995 compared to last week's close of 9,145-9,155.
PHILIPPINES PESO: The Philippine peso rose slightly to 51.120 against the dollar on Friday afternoon, compared to 51.125 on March 31.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 953.20 won per dollar Friday, compared with 971.60 won a week ago, reflecting the global weakness of the greenback over the past week.
The depreciation of the US currency against the won eased on Friday, falling 0.3 won per dollar for the day, on the back of bargain hunting and government intervention.
Dealers said the dollar-won exchange rate was expected to move between 945 won and 956 won when the market opens on Monday.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar rose 0.41 percent in the week to April 7 to close at 32.328 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 32.460 a week earlier.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht rose to a one-year high against the dollar over the past week as investors took heart from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's surprise announcement to resign, dealers said.
They said investors hoped Thaksin's move would help ease the country's political crisis, sparked by his family's 1.9-billion-dollar tax-free sale of its stake in Shin Corp, the telecom giant Thaksin founded, in January.
The Thai unit closed Friday at 38.11-15 to the greenback, up from 38.80-85 a week earlier. Against the euro, the Thai baht closed at 46.45-50, compared to 46.80-47.20.