The dollar moved narrowly around ¥101.50 in Tokyo trading Wednesday ahead of major economic events Thursday.
At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at ¥101.49-50, little changed from ¥101.50-52 at the same time Tuesday. The euro stood at $1.3670-3674, down from $1.3692-3692, and at ¥138.75-77, down from ¥138.99-139.00.
The dollar edged up to around ¥101.60 late in the morning as Tokyo stocks advanced after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high overnight, traders said.
Another dollar-positive factor was a bigger than expected trade deficit incurred by Australia in May, which triggered sales of the Australian dollar for the U.S. currency, according to traders.
But the greenback’s rise was limited amid a wait-and-see mood ahead of the U.S. Labor Department’s announcement of jobs data for June on Thursday and the European Central Bank’s policy-setting Governing Council meeting also on Thursday, traders said. Furthermore, the U.S. financial markets will be closed Friday for Independence Day.
It is “hard to make moves” either in favor of the dollar or the yen for now, a major Japanese bank official said.
Another major bank official said that the 200-day moving average, which stands at around ¥101.70, “is seen as a (near-term) ceiling” of the dollar.
Market sources said the dollar-yen rates are expected to remain range-bound for the time being. The closely followed U.S. jobs report “is unlikely to have an impact big enough to change the recent trend in the dollar-yen sector,” said an analyst at a bank-linked brokerage house.
Following the narrow fluctuations in recent trading, short-term players, such as retail investors, are moving very quickly to take profits, said an official of a margin trading service firm.
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