New samurai bond gives aussie boost
Most regional currencies ended mixed against the US dollar last week, although the Singapore dollar and the South Korean won took sharp dives.
The Australian dollar edged up 0.23 US cent over the week despite being speared by the US interest rate rise.
The unit ended on Friday at 78.63 US cents compared with 78.4 cents a week earlier. A new dual-currency samurai bond issue announced on Friday gave it a late boost.
The New Zealand dollar closed on Thursday at 69.46 US cents, up on the previous Friday's close of 69.1.
Dealers said the trading volume had been light in the week leading to the Easter break.
The Singapore dollar plunged to a two-year low of S$1.4525 against the US dollar on fears of a new crisis with Malaysia but recovered to end the week at $1.4435 from $1.447 previously.
The Indonesian currency closed on Thursday at 2,418 rupiah to the dollar or three rupiah weaker than the previous week. Friday was a public holiday.
The Malaysian ringgit ended the week 17 points lower at M$42.48 from $2.4783 the previous week after players remained sidelined ahead of the central bank 1996 annual report and news of Malaysia's intention to freeze fresh bilateral ties with Singapore, which was later denied by Malaysia.
The Philippine peso depreciated to 26.367 to the US dollar on Wednesday from 26.339 pesos on March 21. There was no trading on Thursday and Friday because of the Easter holiday.
The won fell from 883.5 to the dollar a week ago to a record low of 897.1 won on Saturday as South Korea's current account deficit continued swelling.
The Taiwan dollar declined slightly to close at NT$27.549 on lacklustre trading, down 1.2 cents from the previous week's finish of $27.537.
