The US dollar ended the Asian session firmer against the yen and to a lesser extent, the euro, as oil prices stayed under yesterday's record highs and as Hurricane Katrina proved to be less destructive than initially expected The dollar had begun a rebound from overnight when the benchmark Nymex crude futures contract began to ease from the 70.80 usd a barrel it hit in Asian trading hours yesterday. Late in Asian trading today, it fell below 68 usd to 67.91 usd, compared to its close of 67.20 usd in the US overnight But with Katrina having been downgraded to a tropical storm and signs that the damage it inflicted on the US Gulf Coast states may have been less severe than expected, the dollar saw a modest revival in buying interest Against Asian currencies, the dollar ended generally higher, led by its gains against the yen since overnight, and also aided by the Indonesian rupiah's retreat to its lowest levels since 2001 "Indonesia's growing confidence crisis and a renewed bounce in oil prices drove Asian FX trade on Tuesday, pushing dollar-yen briefly above the 111.00 yen mark as the yen became something of a proxy for beleaguered Asian currencies," a UBS currency dealer said The rupiah showed no signs of ending its recent slump, as the currency fell to lows not seen since 2001 after weakening past 11,000 rupiah to the dollar The euro was also under pressure as the dollar took back ground against European currencies, but managed to hold on better than the yen against the greenback "Euro-dollar now seems vulnerable to a test toward 1.2160," UBS currency dealers said in a client note But some players were still keen on buying the single currency on dips and this played a large part in limiting the pair's downside in Asia and helped it to stage a late rebound