Dollar gives mixed performance against Asian currencies

Dollar gives mixed performance against Asian currencies

HONG KONG (AFP): The U.S. dollar performed mixed against Asian
currencies over the week.

Several units registered slight gains following the U.S.
Federal Reserve Board's decision to raise interest rates and
Washington's release of trade data showing a widening deficit
with Tokyo, dealers said.

The Australian, New Zealand and Hong Kong dollars and the
Indonesian rupiah were weaker, but losses were slight.

Japanese yen: The yen surged against the dollar to close the
week at 98.35 yen, up 1.95 yen from a week earlier, as U.S. trade
figures from June released this week showed a rising deficit with
Japan.

Australian dollar: The Australian dollar closed Friday only
slightly lower against the U.S. currency after a bumpy week's
trading highlighted by an official rate hike on Wednesday.

The local dollar closed at 74.07 U.S. cents from the previous
week's finish of 74.15 U.S. cents.

Hong Kong: The Hong Kong dollar weakened slightly during the
week in line with the falling greenback, closing at 7.7272-7.7277
on Friday, compared with 7.728-7.729 a week ago. The effective
exchange rate index stood Friday at 122.2, down 1.1 points from
the previous week.

Indonesian rupiah: The Indonesian currency closed the week's
trading Friday at 2,172, compared to the previous week's finish
of 2,170 rupiah. The rupiah started the week at 2,171 rupiah
against the dollar on Monday.

Malaysian ringgit: The Malaysian ringgit ended the week higher
at 2.5533 to the U.S. dollar from 2.5562 the previous week.
Dealers said the strong ringgit stemmed from the central bank's
lifting of a six-month-long ban on swap transactions with non-
residents.

New Zealand dollar: The New Zealand dollar closed Friday worth
60.07 U.S. cents, only slightly down on the previous week's
closing of 60.10 cents.

Singapore dollar: The Singapore dollar strengthened against
the U.S. dollar at 1.5020 here Friday, compared to last week's
level of 1.5050.

South Korean won: The U.S. dollar weakened against the South
Korean won, closing the week at 804.30, compared with the
previous week's close of 805.80.

Taiwan dollar: The U.S. dollar declined slightly to close
Friday at 26.435 to the Taiwan dollar, down 2.5 Taiwan cents from
the previous week's finish of 26.46.

Thai baht: The Bank of Thailand's Exchange Equalization Fund
on Friday fixed the official mid-rate at 24.98 baht to one U.S.
dollar, compared with the previous week's close of 25.06. The
dollar closed below the 25-baht barrier because of a continuing
trade dispute between the United States and Japan, a Thai
Military Bank official said.