The Singapore dollar eased to a near four-week low on Friday along with other Asian currencies as economic data in the United States pushed the US dollar sharply higher. The Singapore dollar was quoted as low as 1.6572 per US dollar, down 0.5 percent on the day and its weakest since touching 1.6600 on April 18. The US dollar hit a six-month high against an index of currencies on data showing US retail sales in April surged 1.4 percent on the month, overshooting market expectations for a 0.7 percent rise. It was the strongest showing in seven months. The data came a day after a smaller-than-expected March trade deficit sent the US dollar higher. The Taiwan dollar, South Korean won, and Indian rupee also slid but their weakness was limited to 0.3 percent amid simmering speculation that China may revalue the yuan at any time.
Inflows of foreign funds also supported these currencies.
"I suspect that Asia will continue to outperform versus other major currency moves versus the US dollar on China revaluation hopes," said Craig Chan, a currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong.
Investors scaled back their bets on an immediate revaluation in the yuan after China's central bank denied a spate of local reports and speculation predicting such a move, although expectations of a change still dominated trading.
Many analysts believe a yuan revaluation could push major Asian currencies - especially the yen, won and Taiwan and Singapore dollars - higher against the US dollar.
In Taiwan, foreign investors have been net buyers of more than $1.8 billion in local stocks over the past three weeks in anticipation of global index compiler MSCI's upgrade of Taiwan's weighting in its indexes at the end of this month.
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