"I expect finally the tax reform will be passed and signed into law so in January we will see some modest gains in the dollar versus emerging Asian currencies," said Gao Qi, Asia FX strategist at Scotiabank. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose about 0.31 percent to 93.174 at 0644 GMT.
The Singapore dollar and the Thai baht weakened 0.19 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively. The Taiwan dollar traded flat ahead of Tuesday's consumer price inflation numbers, expected to be 0.26 percent.
Malaysia's ringgit firmed 0.36 percent on Monday, the most in the region, as November factory data showed the strongest expansion in the manufacturing sector since April 2014, thanks to solid growth in output and new orders on improved domestic and overseas demand. The yuan firmed 0.08 percent even though the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set a weaker fixing rate for the second consecutive day.
The currency eased against the greenback on Friday and ended the week lower. The Indian rupee firmed 0.12 percent. The Reserve Bank of India is due to hold monetary policy committee meeting on Wednesday.
Data issued on Friday showed India's foreign exchange reserves crossed the $400 billion mark on November 24, the highest since September 22. The peso continued its decline from Friday and weakened more than 0.5 percent,the most among its Asian peers, as the Philippines equity index slipped to its lowest since mid-September.
Philippine shares fell more than 1 percent to a near 12-week low as the passage of a tax bill in the US Senate aided foreign outflows. Indonesia's rupiah traded flat as data for November showed inflation reached its lowest since December 2016 at 3.30 percent year on year, lower than expectations of 3.40 percent from a Reuters poll of analysts.
Core inflation for the same period also came in lower than expected, at 3.05 percent, against the expected 3.10 percent, lowering the potential for a rate hike. "The key risk going forward is oil price, depending on how the government will manage administered price changes next year," DBS Group Research economist Gundy Cahyadi wrote in a note issued shortly before the data was released.
The Korean won was the region's second-biggest loser , weakening 0.21 percent against the greenback. "The Korean won appreciated a lot in the past sessions and it also typically moves at a faster pace compared to regional currencies. It appreciates more, it depreciates more," added Scotiabank's Qi. The Bank of Korea hiked the benchmark rate on November 30, as was widely expected, for the first time in six years.
Copyright Reuters, 2017