TOKYO: Currencies continued their will-they-won't-they dance over the Federal Reserve stimulus drawdown in Asian trade Monday after poor US new-home data offered some support to emerging market units.
The Indian rupee, which tumbled to a record low of 65.56 to the dollar last week, fetched 64.23 to the dollar in Tokyo morning trade against 64.45 Friday afternoon.
The Indonesian rupiah edged up to 10,770 from 10,963.
Against the yen, the greenback slipped to 98.51 from 98.71 yen in New York Friday afternoon while the euro bought $1.3380 and 131.90 yen compared with $1.3381 and 132.11 yen.
Expectations of an end to the US stimulus programme have seen foreigners in recent months repatriate some of the vast sums that have poured into emerging economies, hitting currencies and equities.
The dollar was under pressure after the Commerce Department on Friday reported new-home sales in July plunged more than expected from June, by 13.4 percent, the biggest month-on-month drop in more than three years.
The disappointing data raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve would go ahead with its expected announcement of stimulus tapering at its September 17-18 policy meeting.
"There is continued strong focus on indicators to predict when the Fed will begin tapering," Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Against other Asian currencies the dollar slipped to 44.19 Philippine pesos from 44.26 pesos on Friday, and to 31.91 Thai baht from 31.94 baht.
The greenback also fell to 1,113.20 South Korean won from 1,116.43 won, to 44.20 Philippine pesos from 44.26 pesos, and to Sg$1.2791 from Sg$1.2805, and to Tw$29.89 from Tw$29.95.
The Australian dollar rose to 90.39 US cents from 90.05 cents. The Chinese yuan fetched 16.07 yen against 16.13 yen.
Last week the dollar had risen after minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting showed board members had differing opinions on when to wind down its $85 billion a month bond-buying, known as quantitative easing (QE).
Some back a "taper" as soon as next month, while others said the bank needed to see more evidence the US economy was strong enough.
Fed boss Ben Bernanke has said it will not reel in the scheme until the economy can stand on its own two feet and unemployment is below seven percent.
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