Investor sentiment had shown some signs of stabilising on Thursday after Iran said it was working with Oman on a framework to manage shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing some concerns over supply disruptions in a key oil route

Asian currencies traded in tight ranges on Friday as investors remained on edge amid talks of escalation in the Middle East war, while thin liquidity due to the Good Friday holiday kept moves subdued.

Investor sentiment had shown some signs of stabilising on Thursday after Iran said it was working with Oman on a framework to manage shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing some concerns over supply disruptions in a key oil route.

The yuan’s onshore pair USD/CNY edged down 0.1%.

Data released earlier in the day showed China’s services sector growth slowed in March, with the Ratingdog Services PMI dropping to 52.1 from February’s 33-month high of 56.7.

The yen’s USD/JPY pair traded flat at 159.63 yen on Friday, near the closely watched 160-per-dollar mark, trading around 159.6.

Japan’s finance minister also warned that authorities were ready to act against speculative moves in the foreign exchange market as volatility increased.

The won’s USD/KRW pair, and the Singapore dollar’s USD/SGD were largely muted.

The Australian dollar’s AUD/USD pair traded largely flat.

Indian rupee drifts further from recent record low.

The Indian rupee’s USD/INR pair edged 0.3% lower on Friday to 92.71 rupees, after hitting a record high of 95.22 rupees at the start of the week.

For the week, the currency was set to strengthen more than 2% against the U.S. dollar, after support measures from the Reserve Bank of India helped stabilise the currency.

The RBI capped banks’ net open foreign exchange positions and barred them from offering non-deliverable forwards to clients, forcing an unwinding of large speculative positions and triggering dollar sales in the onshore market.