By Hiroyuki Kachi
The dollar was lower against the yen in Asia trade Tuesday, with
investors remaining hesitant to make major moves ahead of U.S.
economic data and a European Central Bank policy meeting later in
the week.
As of 0450 GMT, the dollar was at Y109.32 from Y109.50 late
Monday in New York after hitting Y109.51. The euro was at $1.2692
from $1.2685.
The currency market processed the last flows related to the
settlement of commercial transactions by Japanese companies at the
end of the fiscal first half earlier in the session.
For the rest of the day market participants look set to wait in
the wings ahead of the ECB meeting and U.S. manufacturing and jobs
data later in the week. Market participants shrugged off
disappointing Japanese economic data such as industrial production
release in the morning as lacking in relative importance.
A move by the dollar to toward the Y110 threshold will have to
wait until later this week, as investors will find it "difficult to
make major, positive moves" ahead of the U.S. data, said Mizuho
Securities chief FX strategist Kengo Suzuki.
"While Y110 seems close, the path there is still distant," Mr.
Suzuki said.
Still, with the greenback staying above Y109 despite weakness in
Japanese stocks and global markets overnight, "the dollar is
showing resilience," said IG Securities market analyst Junichi
Ishikawa. The Nikkei Stock Average was down about 1.1% in the
afternoon session after the retreats on Wall Street and in Europe
overnight.
The greenback's static position during Asia trading hours
Tuesday suggests an uptick in the U.S. stock market is another
"prerequisite for the dollar to challenge Y110," together with
gains in U.S. bond yields, Mr. Ishikawa said.
The euro was at Y138.77, compared with Y138.92.
The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket
of major currencies, was down 0.15% at 77.65.
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT
Latest Previous %Chg Daily Daily %Chg
2150 GMT High Low 12/31
Dollar Rates
USD/JPY Japan 109.30-32 109.47-51 -0.17 109.53 109.20 +3.80
EUR/USD Euro 1.2691-94 1.2685-88 +0.05 1.2701 1.2682 -7.65
GBP/USD U.K. 1.6260-64 1.6239-45 +0.12 1.6267 1.6226 -1.78
USD/CHF Switzerland 0.9508-10 0.9511-15 -0.04 0.9517 0.9502 +6.48
USD/CAD Canada 1.1140-42 1.1161-66 -0.20 1.1166 1.1140 +4.89
AUD/USD Australia 0.8761-62 0.8717-20 +0.50 0.8767 0.8695 -1.72
NZD/USD New Zealand 0.7812-14 0.7762-67 +0.63 0.7824 0.7746 -4.96
Euro Rate
EUR/JPY Japan 138.72-76 138.89-92 -0.12 138.93 138.68 -4.14
Source: ICAP PLC
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com