Asian currencies lower against dollar

Asian currencies ended the week mostly down against the US dollar despite growing concerns over the world's biggest economy and data from Washington showing rising unemployment.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen bounced back to a one-and-a-half-month high against the dollar towards the end of the week as players sold the greenback on concerns over deteriorating US employment conditions.
The Japanese currency peaked at 105.67 to the dollar before ending daytime trading at 106.48-50 on Friday, up from 108.79-81 a week earlier.
It clawed its way back from the week's low of 109.09 on Wednesday when the dollar was bought on an overnight plunge in oil prices in New York.
Meanwhile, the dollar was pressured as weak retail results and data suggesting mounting job losses heightened fears on the US economic outlook.
Figures showing higher jobless claims in the past week and more losses in private-sector employment weighed on investor sentiment.
The fragile employment situation was further highlighted by a Labor Department report on Friday that showed US employers slashed 84,000 nonfarm jobs in August and the jobless rate jumped to a five-year high of 6.1 percent.
The report marked the eighth consecutive month of shrinking nonfarm payrolls, and was worse than expected by private economists.
Yuzo Sakai, currency trading manager at Tokyo Forex and Ueda Harlow, predicted before the Labor Department report that the yen could rise again.
"Many players appear to be keen to sell high-yield currencies such as the euro against the yen amid growing speculation that a global economic slowdown may prompt central banks in many countries to cut rates," Sakai told Dow Jones Newswires.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian currency was likely to have another bad week after slumping on a strengthened greenback and falling commodity prices, dealers said Friday.
By Friday the Aussie was trading at about 81.77 US cents -- its weakest level in more than a year and well down from the previous week's 86.10 US cents.