Asian currencies advanced, led by South Korea’s won and Malaysia’s ringgit, as concern about the pace of a US economic recovery cooled demand for the US dollar.
The won, the ringgit and the New Taiwan dollar all climbed the most in three weeks on Thursday and ICE’s Dollar Index declined after the US reported an unexpected drop in new home sales for last month. Taiwan’s currency was supported by data released yesterday showing pickups in export orders and industrial production.
“The view for medium-term Asian currency strength is still very much alive and kicking,” said Emmanuel Ng, a currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore. “We see chances for the dollar to strengthen on a slightly more enduring scale once Fed rate-hike expectations materialize further.”
The won climbed 0.7 percent to 1,175.05 per US dollar in Seoul on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ringgit rose 0.3 percent to 3.4305 as of 4:25pm in Kuala Lumpur.
Elsewhere, the Thai baht traded at 33.36 per US dollar on Thursday, from 33.35 on Wednesday. China’s yuan was little changed at 6.8282 on Thursday, from 6.8284. India’s rupee gained 0.3 percent to 46.74.
The US dollar dropped against the NT dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange on Friday, falling NT$0.055 from Thursday to close at NT$32.245. The Taiwanese currency ended last week at NT$32.278 against the greenback.
The US dollar was poised to end three consecutive weeks of gains against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus measures to secure the US economy’s recovery.
The US dollar was at US$1.4390 per euro at 4:33pm in Tokyo from US$1.4338 a week ago and US$1.4380 on Thursday in New York. It appreciated to US$1.4218 on Tuesday, the strongest level since Sept. 4, and fell back to US$1.4418 on Thursday, the lowest since Dec. 17.
The greenback lost 0.4 percent this week following a 1.9 percent advance the previous week. The US dollar traded at ¥91.45 from ¥91.54 on Thursday. It rose 1.1 percent this week. The euro was at ¥131.65 from ¥131.63 in New York. It gained 1.5 percent this week following a 0.4 percent decline.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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