The Singapore dollar rose to a 10-year high against the US dollar on speculation traders were testing the upper limit of the band in which the central bank allows the currency to trade.
The currency led gains among its Asian counterparts as the Monetary Authority of Singapore said this month it would seek a stronger currency to control inflation. Six of the 10 most actively traded currencies in Asia outside Japan rose on Friday.
The Singapore dollar rose to S$1.4523, the highest since July 1997, before trading at S$1.4557 late in Singapore on Friday.
Malaysia's ringgit climbed to the strongest in almost a decade on speculation the US Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this month to arrest a slump in the US housing market, spurring investors to buy emerging-market assets in Asia.
The ringgit gained 0.3 percent to 3.3465 per US dollar, rising 0.4 percent this week, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The South Korean won gained for a second week to touch the highest in a decade after a report on Friday showed the economy grew at the fastest pace in almost two years and as the US dollar weakened. The won closed at 909.9 on Friday, Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd said. That's the highest since September 1997.
The Taiwanese dollar added 0.1 percent to NT$32.465 on Friday.
The Vietnamese dong was at 16,083.5 against the US dollar in Hanoi, prices compiled by Bloomberg show.
Elsewhere, the Indonesian rupiah gained 0.3 percent to 9,125 per dollar and the Thai baht advanced 0.1 percent to 34.11 onshore.
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Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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