But the currency market focus was on China as investors paused to digest the latest data that easily beat the country's 2009 growth target after a heated performance in the fourth quarter.
RUPIAH The Indonesian rupiah shed almost 0.4 percent to 9,3250 per dollar, taking its cue from the euro, which dipped to a five-month low against the dollar after Chinese data fuelled concern about new tightening steps from Beijing.
"Rupiah is mostly just following euro," said a trader in Jakarta. Some traders suspected state banks were selling dollars to contain rupiah volatility. One-month dollar/rupiah NDFs hover near 9,345, virtually at par with the spot.
Traders saw little direct impact from the Chinese data, which was generally in line with market expectations. "Asians are not moving much after the data, mostly just following euro's move," said a second trader.
BAHT The Thai baht fell a quarter of a percent against the dollar in early thin trade before recovering a little to 32.95 versus 32.88 late on Wednesday.
"We are watching China to see whether it will take more tightening measures like those this week which helped trigger the dollar rally against euro. It's pretty hard to predict the baht direction, which is partly influenced by the yuan," a Bangkok- based trader said. A second dealer said the stronger dollar versus baht prompted Thai exporters to take profits.
"The morning range for the baht so far is 32.93-97 with many waiting to sell near its upper level. I will not rule out the baht testing 33.03 probably later today," he said.
PESO The Philippine peso hovered near 46.07/dollar, virtually flat from the Wednesday close, after touching 46.02 ahead of Chinese data. "Peso was skittish in anticipation of Chinese data earlier. Most expected stronger data and sold down dollar/peso, but data was a bit weaker than expected and the market stabilised," said a dealer in Manila.