Major Asian currencies rose against the dollar amid concerns about the US property market focused on the growing number of bad mortgage loans.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen rebounded against the dollar as nervous US economic prospects dampened "carry" trades whereby investors borrow low-interest money in Japan to invest in higher-yielding currencies elsewhere.
The Japanese unit stood at 116.83-86 to the dollar late Friday, up from 117.36-39 to the dollar a week earlier, after clawing its way back from Monday's low of 118.50 to the dollar.
Investors world-wide are worried about the US property market after news that the number of bad mortgage loans is rising, amid deep financial troubles for some companies that lent to "subprime" borrowers with patchy credit records.
They reacted nervously after former US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said on Thursday that US home loan problems could spill over into the wider economy but that there was no evidence of it yet.
Market players are awaiting US economic data due out next week, including housing starts and used housing sales while the US Fed, which will hold a policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, is seen unable to lower US interest rates any time soon, dealers said.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian currency is expected to rise next week after the central bank stoked expectations of an interest rate by saying inflation was too high, dealers said.
Australia was trading at 79.2 US at 5:00 pm Friday (0600 GMT), well up on the previous week's 78.00 US cents.
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Malcolm Edey said Friday that the bank's 2007 forecast for underlying inflation was higher than ideal.
Edey also said inflation was more likely to be too high than too low in the foreseeable future.
The comments lifted the Australia dollar, which had been rising modestly on the back of recovering global equities markets and rising base-metal prices.
ANZ senior interest rate strategist Sally Auld said the odds of a rate hike by mid-year had risen from one in 12 to one in three after Edey's speech, giving the currency upward momentum going into next week.
NEWZEALAND DOLLAR: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 69.55 US cents, up from 68.78 US cents the previous Friday.
The kiwi rose a cent early in the week but lost more than that midweek amid the latest tumbles in world equity markets. It made up the lost ground late in the week but the market remains cautious.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said market participants were still a bit wary of getting too bullish on the NZ dollar.
The near-term outlook for the kiwi remained highly reliant on what happened in global equity markets, she said.
CHINESE YUAN: The yuan closed at 7.7330 to the dollar Friday on the exchange-traded market, compared with Thursday's close of 7.7430, and a closing price of 7.7445 to the dollar the week before.
On the over-the-counter market, it ended at 7.7360 to the dollar against 7.7440 the previous day.
The central bank had set the yuan central parity rate at 7.7390 to the dollar Friday, compared with 7.7420 on Thursday.
The People's Bank of China allows a trading band of 0.3 percent on either side of the midpoint.
HONG KONG DOLLAR: The Hong Kong dollar ended the week at 7.8112, compared to 7.8141 a week earlier.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah ended the week trading at 9,220/9,230 to the dollar, compared to 9,175/9,178 to the dollar a week earlier.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso traded lower at 48.85 to the dollar on Friday from 48.545 a week before.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The dollar was at 1.5291 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.5268 the previous week.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won closed at 944.80 won per dollar Friday, compared with 945.90 won a week earlier, as the greenback weakened against the South Korean currency amid easing concerns over the unwinding of the global yen "carry trade."
Dealers said the dollar-won exchange rate in the coming week was to largely depend on the movement of the greenback in overseas markets and the local stock market.
The won is likely to trade between 942 and 948 won on Monday, they said.
TAIWAN DOLLAR: The Taiwan dollar fell 0.41 percent in the week to March 16 to close at 33.102 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 32.968 a week earlier.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht hit new nine-year highs against the dollar over the past week on speculation that the central bank would soon end controversial capital controls aimed at taming the rising local unit, dealers said.
Despite repeated comments from officials saying that the government would keep the currency rules, investors believed the opposite, they said.
The capital controls, which came into effect in December, required 30 percent of all incoming investment to be held by financial institutions for up to one year.
But foreign investors saw them as a steep tax on their foreign equity investments and quickly dumped shares, triggering the biggest one-day drop in the stock market in December.
Bank of Thailand governor Tarisa Watanagase stressed Thursday the central bank would maintain the stringent capital measures to control the baht's volatility.
The Thai baht closed at 34.92-93 to the dollar on Friday, up from 35.22-24 a week earlier.