* Chinese yuan set to post best week since October
* S. Korean won firms on cbank talks of trade resilience
* Stronger dollar puts pressure on some units
(Adds text, updates prices)
By Aby Jose Koilparambil
Jan 17 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies traded in a narrow
range on Friday as excitement over the signing of the Sino-U.S.
trade deal faded, while China's yuan hit a six-month high after
data showed resilience in the country's economy.
The sealing of the Phase 1 deal on Wednesday has helped
defuse the 18-month trade row but traders are cautious as a
number of thorny issues still remain unresolved. "The Asian currencies are in a holding pattern because some
of the excitement over the trade deal has cooled off and nothing
is expected on the trade front for the time being," said Sim Moh
Siong, forex strategist at Bank of Singapore.
Meanwhile, the yuan CNY=CFXS is set for its biggest weekly
gain since early October after data showed China's economy grew
6% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations and
unchanged from the previous quarter's pace of growth.
There was surprising acceleration in China's December
factory output and investment growth, while retail sales grew at
a steady pace.
However, the positive China data did not make an impact on
other major regional units as they weakened slightly on a
stronger dollar.
The greenback scaled an eight-month high against the yen on
upbeat U.S. retail sales and jobs data.
"The U.S. data overnight has been quite impressive, which
suggests that the outlook for the rest of the world seems to be
brighter and the U.S. outlook is not lying behind," Bank of
Singapore's Siong said.
The Thai baht THB=TH and the Indonesian rupiah IDR=ID
lost about 0.2% each, while the Indian rupee INR=IN and the
Philippine peso PHP= weakened slightly.
Movements in the Malaysian ringgit MYR=MY , the Taiwan
dollar TWD=TP and the Singapore dollar SGD= were relatively
limited.
WON GAINS
The Korean won KRW=KFTC strengthened as much as 0.4% after
Bank of Korea kept its benchmark rate steady and struck an
upbeat tone, citing signs of an improving trade environment and
a resilient domestic backdrop. The Bank of Korea's policy board voted 5-2 to keep the base
rate KROCRT=ECI steady at 1.25%, as predicted by all 33
analysts surveyed by Reuters, standing pat for a second meeting
following two reductions in July and October last year.
The trade-sensitive won is set to appreciate 0.2% for the
week, its second successive weekly gain.
CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0607 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 110.210 110.14 -0.06
Sing dlr 1.346 1.3469 +0.05
Taiwan dlr 29.940 29.955 +0.05
Korean won 1159.500 1161.1 +0.14
Baht 30.490 30.36 -0.43
Peso 50.880 50.84 -0.08
Rupiah 13645.000 13625 -0.15
Rupee 71.005 70.92 -0.13
Ringgit 4.061 4.061 +0.00
Yuan 6.870 6.8800 +0.14
Change so far in 2020
Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct Move
Japan yen 110.210 108.61 -1.45
Sing dlr 1.346 1.3444 -0.13
Taiwan dlr 29.940 30.106 +0.55
Korean won 1159.500 1156.40 -0.27
Baht 30.490 29.91 -1.90
Peso 50.880 50.65 -0.45
Rupiah 13645.000 13880 +1.72
Rupee 71.005 71.38 +0.53
Ringgit 4.061 4.0890 +0.69
Yuan 6.870 6.9632 +1.35