Asian currencies set for worst quarter in 17 years on Fed, China factors

Singapore

ASIAN currencies are headed for their biggest quarterly loss since the Asian financial crisis, having been battered by China's surprise devaluation of the yuan and the prospect of a US interest-rate increase.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region's 10 most-active currencies outside of Japan, has dropped 4.2 per cent in its worst performance since the 1997-98 crisis.