Asian currencies mixed against dollar

Asian currencies ended the week mixed against the dollar with the yen slipping on speculation that a round of US interest rate cuts may have come to an end.
Analysts said a surprisingly robust report Friday on US housing starts was an encouraging sign that the property market may be beginning to stabilise.
JAPANESE YEN: The Japanese yen lost ground in the past week, as investors returned to the dollar on speculation that the US Federal Reserve has finished cutting interest rates for now, dealers said.
The yen stood at 104.57 against the dollar Friday afternoon, down from 103.50 a week ago.
"A growing number of investors are now even betting that the Fed may start raising interest rates before the end of this year," said Mitsubishi UFJ Securities forex manager Minoru Shioiri.
"But unless we have hard evidence that the US economy is picking up, it is not realistic to bet on a turnaround in the Fed's monetary policy," he added.
The yen received moderate support Friday from unexpectedly strong Japanese first quarter gross domestic product, which grew at a 3.3 percent annualised pace.
"But the data was not strong enough to support further buying of the currency," said Satoshi Okagawa, head of forex forward trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Traders were looking ahead to the next moves by the US and other central banks on interest rates, dealers said.
The US Federal Reserve has been in an aggressive easing cycle to support liquidity concerns resulting from the mortgage crisis, but market participants believe that cycle is now at an end, dealers said.
CHINESE YUAN: The yuan closed at 6.9898 to the dollar Friday on the exchange-traded market, compared with Thursday's close of 6.9929, and a closing price of 6.9916 to the dollar last Friday.
On the over-the-counter market, it ended at 6.9890 to the dollar against 6.9946 the previous day.
The central bank had set the yuan central parity rate at 6.9895 to the dollar Friday, compared with 7.0000 on Thursday.
The People's Bank of China allows a trading band of 0.5 percent on either side of the midpoint.
INDONESIAN RUPIAH: The rupiah ended the week at 9,280/9,290 to the dollar against 9,242/9,253 a week earlier.
PHILIPPINE PESO: The Philippine peso fell to 42.80 pesos to the dollar on Friday afternoon from 42.48 the previous week.
SINGAPORE DOLLAR: The US dollar was at 1.3718 Singapore dollars on Friday from 1.3712 the previous week.
SOUTH KOREAN WON: The won strengthened to close Friday at 1,041.0 to the greenback, compared with 1,044.70 won a week earlier, as foreign investors turned net buyers on the local market and the record-breaking rally of oil prices briefly stopped.
THAI BAHT: The Thai baht weakened against the dollar during the past week, in line with other regional currencies, dealers said.
The Thai unit closed Friday at 32.28-31 baht to the dollar compared to the previous week's close of 31.96-97