Most Asian currencies rise as dollar slips; trade signals mixed

MostAsiancurrenciesfirmed on Thursday, as a volatiledollarweakened broadly onmixedsignalsover the state oftradetalks between Washington and Beijing.

Dampened sentiment following suggestions that the Chinese delegation might cut the ministerial-level talks short and leave Washington on Thursday were offset by a Bloomberg report that the United States is weighing a currency pact with China as part of a partial deal.

Traders also took note of a New York Times report that Washington will issue licenses allowing some UScompanies to supply non-sensitive goods to China's Huawei, as thedollareased against a basket of majorcurrencies.

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"News of Huawei and the currency pact released together with the strong (yuan) fix, underscores the fact that PBoC (People's Bank Of China) is (ready) ...to give a strong guidance for the CNY as a potential pact with the UScould be at hand," a Maybank note said.

USFederal Reserve meeting minutes released on Wednesday were largely in line with expectations and had little market impact.

The yuanstrengthened 0.3 per centand the Singaporedollarfirmed 0.2per cent.

The Philippine pesofirmed marginally. Data showed that August exports rose 0.6 per cent, while imports slumped 11.8 per cent, narrowing the country's August deficit.

Taiwan's financial markets were closed for a holiday.

The Korean wonbucked the trend to slip 0.3 per centahead of talks with Japan on Friday over tighter export controls from Tokyo. The talks are part of a dispute settlement process through the WorldTradeOrganisation.

The won is the worst performer amongAsiancurrenciesthis year.

The prolonged Sino-UStradeconflict and the dispute with Japan has dealt a huge blow to South Korea'strade-reliant economy. In September, exports slumped 11.7 per cent, shrinking for the 10th consecutive month.