Asian currencies fell against the dollar during the week, with speculation that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to rein in inflation feeding strong demand for the greenback.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen lost ground in the past week as dollar-buying sentiment remained strong on lingering speculation of further rises in US interest rates, dealers said.
The Japanese currency slid back to 110.97 against the dollar late Friday in Tokyo, from 109.80 a week earlier.
On Wednesday, the yen shot up to a new eight-month high against the dollar as worries over the huge US current account deficit and an expected narrowing of yield gaps sent the dollar down, dealers said.
The yen, however, gave up part of its gains as the dollar drew support from renewed speculation of further rises in US interest rates following this week's inflation data.
The Fed has increased interest rates at 16 consecutive meetings since June 2004, putting the federal funds rate currently at 5.0 percent. The Fed's policy-setting panel next meets on June 28-29.
"In addition to the improved interest rate outlook, US investors have turned increasingly risk-averse, and they are now hurriedly trying to repatriate their funds back to the US," BNP Paribas forex dealer Koichi Yoshikawa said.
"Until the unwinding of these overseas positions is completed, the dollar is likely to move firmly against other major currencies," he said, adding the dollar could strengthen to 112-113 yen.
But some analysts took the view that dollar-negative sentiment was unlikely to lift given the big US trade and current account deficit and with the US Federal Reserve likely to pause at some point in raising interest rates.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian dollar will likely fall back from the highs of the past month in the coming week because of falling commodity prices, dealers said Friday.
The currency was trading at 76.29 US cents Friday, well down on the previous week's 77.69 US cents.
CMC Markets' Josh Whiting said the fall in commodity prices, particularly gold, hurt the Aussie.
"For the week ahead, now that we've seen it almost get to 78 US cents last week but fail to breach it, we're likely to see a further pull-back in the coming week," Whiting said.
The Aussie was likely to trade within a range of about 76.50 US cents to 75 US cents in the week ahead, he added.
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 62.26 US cents, down sharply from 63.18 the previous Friday.
The dollar recovered after trading as low as 61.90 US cents early in the week, and ANZ Investment Bank said it remained relatively unchanged at the end of the week with nothing in Thursday's budget to scare ratings agencies.
CHINESE YUAN: The Chinese yuan finished Friday at 8.0220 to the dollar, compared with 8.0100 the day before and 8.0061 on May 12.
Friday's central parity rate for the yuan was set at 8.0150 to the dollar. The central bank has a yuan-dollar trading band of 0.3 percent on either side of the midpoint.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: The US-dollar pegged Hong Kong dollar closed the week at 7.7553 from the previous week's close of 7.7531
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah ended the week weaker at 9,190/9,200 compared to the previous week's close of 8,730-8,735.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso fell to 52.650 to the dollar on Friday afternoon compared to 51.795 a week before.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The dollar was at 1.5825 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.5709 the previous week.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 946.30 won per dollar Friday, compared to 932.70 won a week earlier, after the greenback jumped more than 10 won on Thursday on the prospect of further increases in US rates.
Governor Lee Seong-Tae of the Bank of Korea said at a meeting of banking heads on Friday that the central bank would attempt to curb sharp currency fluctuations.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar fell 1.75 percent in the week to May 19 to close at 31.948 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 31.398 a week earlier.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht fell against the dollar over the past week on strong demand for the greenback amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve would further raise interest rates to curb rising inflation, dealers said.
The Thai unit closed Friday at 38.12-16 to the dollar, down from 37.80-83 a week earlier.