SINGAPORE, Oct. 14 (Reuters) — Asian currencies were a touch firmer on Friday as this week’s strong rise in the dollar came to a halt ahead of US economic numbers later in the session.
Dealers said a slight rebound in the yen from a two-year low against the dollar on Thursday supported regional currencies, although trading was largely range-bound before a raft of US numbers, including inflation data.
The South Korean won firmed about 0.4 percent to 1,043.6 per dollar, pushing away from Thursday’s three-month low of about 1,049.
The Singapore dollar and Thai baht were up about a fifth of a percent each, while the Taiwan dollar pulled away Thursday’s 11-month low of 33.49 per dollar.
The Philippine peso showed little reaction to news on Friday that money sent home by Filipinos working overseas rose 28.3 percent in August from a year earlier.
Analysts said, however, that expectations of strong remittances in the final quarter of the year was positive for the peso.
One trader in Manila said that, even if there was strong demand in Asia for dollars, "the market is wary that the central bank will intervene if dollar/peso gets to the 55.90 area."
The Indian rupee was a third of a percent firmer at about 44.82 per dollar, recovering slightly from this week’s 10- month lows.
"There is some profit taking in dollar/Asian currencies," said Craig Chan, a currency analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong.
