SINGAPORE: The South Korean won led gains among emerging Asian currencies on Friday as the dollar's rally lost steam amid caution ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech later in the day.
Indonesia's rupiah briefly hit a near one-month high after the highest court unanimously upheld last month's presidential election results.
The rupiah pared much of its initial gains later as investors shifted their focus to the new cabinet and an expected decision on whether to reduce fuel subsidies. Dollar demand from local importers for payments also trimmed the rupiah's gains.
The won advanced as bids of offshore funds and exporters prompted stop-loss dollar selling. The currency hit a six-year high against the yen.
South Korea's foreign exchange authorities have not been spotted despite growing caution over intervention to stem the won's strength, traders said.
The Malaysian ringgit rose as leveraged funds bought the currency, causing traders to cover short positions.
For the week, however, most emerging Asian currencies eased amid concerns the Fed may raise interest rates sooner than expected and on worries about weakness in China's economy.
The Chinese yuan has slid 0.1 percent against the dollar so far this week, and is set to snap a four-week winning streak after growth in the factory sector slowed to a three-month low in August.
The Philippine peso ended the week down 0.4 percent while the Singapore dollar and the Thai baht eased 0.3 percent each.
The ringgit slipped 0.2 percent.
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