Asian Currencies Complete Third Weekly Decline on Fed Concern

Asian currencies had a third weekly loss on concern the Federal Reserve will scale back stimulus that has spurred fund flows to emerging markets.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index touched a six-week low yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said May 22 its $85 billion a month of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, may be tapered if the U.S. economy shows a sustained improvement. The yuan reached a 19-year high today as the central bank set a record fixing even after data indicated manufacturing in Asia’s largest economy will contract in May.