Asian Currencies Complete Weekly Gains, Led by Baht, on Inflows

Asian currencies rose this week, led by the Thai baht and South Korea’s won, as the world’s fastest economic growth drew funds to the region and data in the U.S., China and Japan brightened the outlook for exports.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index climbed to a four-month high as equities in India, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand attracted more than $1 billion from abroad. U.S. jobless claims were the lowest in two months, China’s imports rose more than economists forecast and Japan raised its estimate for second-quarter economic growth, reports showed this week. The baht and Malaysia’s ringgit reached 13-year highs.