SINGAPORE--The Singapore dollar was sharply lower against the U.S. dollar late in Asia on Friday, with a fall in currencies across the Asia Pacific helping the greenback rise.
The U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.2377 in the last hour of trade on Friday, compared with S$1.2285 around the same time Thursday. The U.S. dollar will likely face resistance near S$1.2395, according to Dow Jones technical analysis.
The U.S. currency powered past the crucial resistance of 100 yen on Thursday and continued to march upward to quote at 101.318 yen late Friday.
"Traders were looking for a catalyst to bring it [USD/JPY] above the 100 levels and U.S. unemployment claims recording the lowest levels in five years nailed it," CMC Markets Singapore analyst Desmond Chua said.
A surprise easing of monetary policy by central banks in Australia and South Korea weakened the region's currencies this week.
Singapore government bonds were quiet on Friday after the benchmark 10-year bond rose sharply in the last hour of trade on Thursday.
Yields on both the two-year and 10-year government bonds were unchanged at 0.21% and 1.42% on Friday.
Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at gaurav.raghuvanshi@dowjones.com
