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By Bloomberg

Asian currencies headed for a weekly loss, led by the Singapore dollar and Malaysia’s ringgit, as the U.S. dollar climbed amid speculation the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates this year.

U.S. housing starts surged to seven-year high in April while average jobless claims fell over the past month, reports showed this week. Fed officials remain open to tightening in 2015 though a June liftoff in rates is unlikely, according to the minutes of their April meeting released Wednesday. A preliminary gauge of manufacturing in China, Asia’s biggest economy, missed estimates in May even after borrowing costs were cut for the third time since November.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index fell 0.2 percent from May 15 at 12:02 p.m. in Hong Kong. The ringgit weakened 0.7 percent to head for its biggest weekly loss in two months, while the Singapore dollar lost 0.8 percent. South Korea’s won and Indonesia’s rupiah each dropped 0.4 percent. A gauge of the U.S. dollar jumped 1.6 percent, snapping a five-week decline.

“The dollar recovered as an increase in Fed rates may be likely in September,” said Leong Sook Mei, the Singapore-based Southeast Asia head of global markets research at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

Fed policy makers expect U.S. growth to pick up after stalling in the first quarter, the minutes showed. The average number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks dropped to a 15-year low, a sign the labor market continues to strengthen.

China PMI

The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics for China was at 49.1 for May, missing the median estimate of 49.3 in a Bloomberg survey. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction. Manufacturing output slipped to a 13-month low, the PMI report showed Thursday, while employment continued to shrink.

“Chinese data was very disappointing,” said Andy Ji, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Singapore. “The market was expecting some kind of stabilization because of the interest-rate and reserve-ratio cuts.”

The ringgit fell as Brent crude prices retreated 0.7 percent this week, weighing on the outlook for Malaysia, the only major Asian oil-exporting nation. Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday laid out his strategies to boost growth through 2020, including reducing dependence on oil-related revenue to 15.5 percent by 2020 from 21.5 percent this year.

Elsewhere in Asia, India’s rupee and the Philippine peso declined 0.1 percent this week. Thailand’s baht climbed 0.3 percent and the Chinese yuan rose 0.2 percent.