Asian monies fall against dollar, as U.S. interest rate up
Asian monies fall against dollar, as U.S. interest rate up
Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong
Asian currencies ended the first week of 2005 lower against the dollar on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue on its path of raising interest rates.
The yen fell against the dollar in trading in Tokyo as market players bought back the greenback on expectations of continued hikes in U.S. interest rates.
The Japanese currency stood at 104.58-60 to the dollar at 5:00 pm (0800 GMT) on Friday, down from 103.77-79 to the dollar at the same time on Dec. 30.
The yen rallied to the mid-102 level on Tuesday, the year's first trading day, bolstered by a solid start in the Japanese equity market.
But it gave up gains as U.S. economic data -- including the purchasing managers index for December and new orders for U.S.- made manufactured goods for November -- turned out to be more positive than expected.
Trading was stuck in a tight range on Friday as the market awaited the release of December U.S. non-farm payroll data later in the day.
"The employment report will give some direction to the dollar; if it comes in better than expected, it will surely boost the dollar to the 105 yen level," said UFJ Bank dealer Shigetake Nakayama ahead of the release of the U.S. job data.
Aozora Bank dealer Kazuhiro Nishina said that the dollar would benefit from solid job data in the United States which would reinforce "prospects for faster-than-expected rate hikes there."
He added, however, it would be hard for the dollar to go far beyond 105 "as Japanese exporters have begun to step up selling of the US currency."
Released after Tokyo trading, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls figure of 157,000 new jobs in December was slightly below the average Wall Street forecast of 175,000 new jobs. Analysts however said the report was unlikely to deter the Federal Reserve from its path of steadily lifting interest rates.
The Australian dollar is expected to remain rangebound next week in cautious trading as the holiday season comes to an end and market watchers try to spot early new year trends, dealers said.
The "Aussie" ended the week at 76.21 U.S. cents, more than 1.5 cents down on the previous week's 77.92 cents.
JP Morgan strategists said the Australian dollar appeared to have reached bottom after a strong rally by the greenback.
Macquarie Bank divisional director Geoff Bowmer said the Australian dollar dipped late in the week after the release of weak November retail sales data.
Bowmer said the figures were of limited relevance, given the prospect of strong spending over Christmas, and he did not expect them to influence trading next week.
"I think we will probably trade between 75.8 cents to 76.3 cents into next week," he said.
The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 70.03 U.S. cents, down from 71.84 the previous week.
A Westpac Bank foreign exchange dealer said: "It's still a U.S. dollar story so whether the Kiwi heads lower still is going to be dependent on the U.S., and their data has been more upbeat this year."
The Singapore dollar was at 1.6442 to the U.S. dollar on Friday from 1.6343 the previous week.
Hong Kong's U.S.-pegged dollar was at 7.791 to the greenback on Friday from 7.772 a week earlier.
The Indonesian rupiah closed at 9,280-9,290, slightly higher compared with 9,340-9,350 to the dollar a week earlier.
The Philippine peso traded higher at 56.175 to the greenback on Friday afternoon, compared with 56.280 on Dec. 29, the last trading day of 2004.
The won depreciated to 1,055.00 won to the dollar, compared with 1035.10 won a week earlier.
Dealers said the won was expected to gain ground in the coming week. The won appreciated 15 percent against the U.S. currency last year, prompting the government to intervene.
The Taiwan dollar declined to end at 32.138 against the greenback on Friday, compared with 31.917 a week earlier.
The Thai baht was slightly weaker against the U.S. dollar over the past week, dealers said. The baht closed on Friday at 39.13- 16 baht to the dollar compared with the previous week's close of 38.98-39.03.