By Hiroyuki Kachi
The dollar was lower against the yen in Asian trade Friday,
pulled down by profit taking and selling by corporate investors
related to end-of-the month commercial trade settlement.
Around 0450 GMT, the dollar was down to Y117.97 compared with
Y118.29 late Thursday in New York.
The greenback initially maintained overnight gains brought about
by favorable employment numbers, in which Americans filed the
fewest jobless claims since April 2000. But the U.S. currency then
lost ground to fall as low as Y117.89 with profit taking kicking
in. Selling by Japanese exporters for the purpose of regular
settlement for commercial trade also exacerbated the decline.
Many market participants said the dollar will likely remain
trapped in a tight range between Y117 and Y119 for a while, noting
that uncertainties over risk aversion on tumbling oil prices is
casting a shadow on U.S. corporate earnings and stocks.
U.S. stocks rose alongside oil prices Thursday but investors
remain cautious.
"It is considerably important to see how the stock market will
perform," said Yasuaki Amatatsu, analyst of global markets research
at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"We can't see what level the stock market will stabilize at
unless we watch earnings." The dollar is now facing difficulty
testing Y120, as the VIX fear gauge increases due to uncertainties
over U.S. earnings and stocks.
Investors are shifting their focus to U.S. gross domestic
product figures for the October-December period slated later
Friday, but some contend the dollar won't likely go up much only
based on that piece of macroeconomic data.
It may be difficult for the dollar to challenge the Y119 level
if potentially downbeat U.S. corporate earnings later Friday cancel
out an expected solid reading for the U.S. GDP data, said IG
Securities market analyst Junichi Ishikawa.
Earnings from Chevron, Xerox and others scheduled later Friday
will be used to gauge the sustainability of the stock-market's
strength, which could be a catalyst that pushes the dollar higher
toward Y119, said Mr. Ishikawa.
Among other currency pairs, the euro was almost unchanged at
$1.1327 from $1.1325 and was at Y133.62 from Y133.99.
The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket
of major currencies, was down 0.13% at 85.77.
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 23:50 EST / 0450 GMT
Latest Previous %Chg Daily Daily %Chg
Dollar Rates Close High Low 12/31
USD/JPY Japan 117.96-97 118.28-29 -0.27 118.46 117.89 -1.47
EUR/USD Euro 1.1326-29 1.1319-22 +0.06 1.1340 1.1318 -6.37
GBP/USD U.K. 1.5072-77 1.5065-70 +0.05 1.5082 1.5065 -3.24
USD/CHF Switzerland 0.9227-31 0.9236-40 -0.10 0.9240 0.9206 -7.18
USD/CAD Canada 1.2625-30 1.2616-21 +0.07 1.2636 1.2609 +8.66
AUD/USD Australia 0.7780-84 0.7761-65 +0.24 0.7793 0.7760 -4.76
NZD/USD New Zealand 0.7278-84 0.7263-69 +0.21 0.7296 0.7264 -6.59
Euro Rate
EUR/JPY Japan 133.60-64 133.86-90 -0.19 134.18 133.58 -7.81
Source: ICAP PLC
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com