U.S. dollar focused in Asia

SYDNEY - A rare rally in the U.S. dollar was the focus in Asia Friday as investors wondered if President Barack Obama's week-long visit to the region would generate pressure for some countries to let their currencies rise.The bounce in the long-suffering U.S. dollar added to profit-taking on commodities like gold and oil, while weakness in shares across Asia supported the dollar as a safe-haven trade.Obama kicks off his first official tour of Asia by meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday, then goes on to Singapore, China and South Korea.High on the agenda will be U.S. calls for Asian countries to do more to stimulate domestic demand instead of relying on exports to America. That would likely require much of Asia, and China in particular, to let their currencies appreciate.But there's an inherent contradiction in the U.S. stance.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner often states his desire to see a strong dollar, yet at the same time wants Asian exporters to let their currencies gain ground against the dollar.Leaders of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation seemed to give ground this week by backing "market-oriented" exchange rates. Yet many of the same countries were spotted intervening to buy the dollar to stop an export-damaging rise in their own currencies.Traders said this burst of buying caught many speculators short and was a major reason the U.S. dollar bounced so far.The euro had pulled back to $1.4858, from Thursday's peak around $1.5048, while the dollar reached 90.30 yen from the week's 89.26 trough.Against a basket of currencies the dollar was up at 75.596 and off 15-mth lows of 74.774, though it remains within a downtrend channel that stretches back to May.The dollar's rise added to pressure on oil, already burdened by a surprisingly large increase in U.S. crude inventories. Nymex crude for December delivery was off 38 cents at $76.56, after shedding 3 percent on Thursday.Likewise, spot gold was dragged down to $1,103.60 per ounce.Most share markets in Asia tracked Thursday's fall in U.S. stocks, which snapped a six-day winning streak.The Dow Jones average dropped 93.79 points, or 0.91 percent, on Thursday to 10,197.47, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 11.27 points, or 1.03 percent, to 1,087.24.The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan followed on Friday to be off 0.9 percent at 407.24. Some blamed concerns about U.S. shoppers.On Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc forecast earnings during the key holiday quarter could miss Wall Street estimates as its customers face rising unemployment."It is inevitable for exporters in Korea and China to be hit as U.S. retailers are unlikely to enjoy the holiday shopping season," said Choo Hee-yeop, a strategist at Korea Investment & Securities.