The Indian rupee recovered from a recent spate of losses on Friday to touch a more than one-week high, while most other Asian currencies ticked higher as cautious investors focused on Russia-Ukraine tensions.
Rising cross-border tensions, along with global inflationary concerns, have been weighing on emerging Asian markets since last week, with the Fed’s hawkish stance to combat higher inflation adding further pressure.
Singaporean dollar, Taiwanese dollar and Malaysian ringgit traded flat, while the Philippine peso strengthened 0.2 percent against the greenback.
The Indian rupee appreciated 0.4 percent to hit 74.813, its highest level since Feb. 9, after losing about 0.8 percent over the last week. It was set to post a 0.7 percent weekly, its best this year.
The Thai baht, the best performing currency in the region so far this year, was down about 0.1 percent on Friday, but posted its best week since Jan. 28, in its third consecutive weekly gain.
The rupiah weakened about 0.2 percent, as data indicating signs of acceleration in the US Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening plans spurred bond outflows from the country.
Among regional equities, shares in Jakarta rose 0.8 percent to hit a record high, after data showed that Southeast Asia’s largest economy logged an annual current account surplus for the first time in a decade.
Globally, investors were calmed by hopes of a diplomatic solution on the East-West standoff over Ukraine from a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later next week.