The yen was almost flat against its peers during Asia trade Monday, after risk sentiment prompted buying of the Japanese currency.
The greenback USDJPY, -0.45% traded at ¥100.97 after touching as low as ¥100.71 earlier in the morning session. The U.S. currency was at ¥101.00 late Friday in New York.
The euro EURJPY, -0.39% was unchanged at Y113.40 from Y113.41 in New York, while the Australian dollar dropped slightly to Y76.90 from Y77.00.
Tokyo stocks slid on Monday following declines in major U.S. stock indexes Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average NIK, -1.25% falling 0.9% in late afternoon trade. Weaker stocks prompted investors to buy the safety of the Japanese currency from earlier in the session. But midday yen selling helped moderate the strength of the Japanese currency.
After digesting the central bank policy events last week in Japan and the U.S., investors were lacking fresh cues during Asia trade to give a new direction to the dollar.
Investors are waiting for Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda’s speech at a meeting with business leaders in Osaka, western Japan later today. But investors do not expect Kuroda to provide any fresh incentives after the BOJ’s new policy framework unveiled last week, which included a target of around zero for the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield.
Currency market participants are also awaiting the first U.S. Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump later Monday in the U.S.
Having confirmed its downside support even after falling below the ¥100-line since July, “I don’t expect the dollar will slide without trading cues,” said Shinichiro Kadota, senior FX and rate strategist at Barclays in Tokyo. He added that the dollar will likely remain in a ¥100-Y101 range for the time being.
In other currency trade, the euro EURUSD, +0.0267% was at $1.1229 midday from $1.1224.
The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, -0.03% a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.01% at 86.51.
Source: MarketWatch
