Malaysia’s ringgit and South Korea’s won led gains in Asian currencies this week after data showed an economic recovery is gathering pace, encouraging funds abroad to raise holdings of regional shares.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index reached the highest level in 19 months as Korea and Thailand reported increases in factory output and exports, while China’s manufacturing expanded at a faster rate. The ringgit advanced to its strongest in 20 months before a government report on Friday that showed overseas sales of the nation’s goods rose for a third month in February.
“Investors put money into stocks and Asia is favored for its stronger growth prospects, boosting regional currencies,” said Hideki Hayashi, a global economist at Mizuho Securities Co in Tokyo. “Risk appetite is growing with improvements in US economic data.”
The ringgit appreciated 1.7 percent this week to 3.2490 per US dollar in Kuala Lumpur and reached 3.2437, the highest level since July 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The won rose 1.2 percent to 1,125.85.
The New Taiwan dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to NT$31.759 against its US counterpart on Friday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It advanced 0.4 percent this week.
The Thai baht appreciated 0.2 percent in the five days to 32.36 per US dollar, Indonesia’s rupiah climbed 0.5 percent to 9,080 and the Vietnamese dong rose 0.1 percent to 19,075. The yuan was little changed at 6.8256.
The US dollar meanwhile touched the strongest level against the yen in more than seven months as a government report added evidence to speculation that the labor market is recovering, helping to fuel US economic growth.
The US dollar advanced 2.2 percent, matching the most since the five days ended Dec. 4, to ¥94.57 in New York on Friday, from ¥92.52 on March 26. It touched ¥94.69, the highest level since Aug. 24. The greenback fell 0.6 percent to US$1.3484 per euro, the first weekly slide since March 12, from US$1.3410 on March 26. The yen fell 2.7 percent to ¥127.50 versus the 16-nation currency, the second weekly loss. It closed March 26 at ¥124.06.
The pound rose 2.5 percent in the week to US$1.5276 at 5:20pm on Thursday. It appreciated 1.3 percent to £0.8887 per euro.
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