Dollar hits 1-month low vs yen, traders eye events later in week

Tokyo (June 30)  The U.S. dollar hit a more than one-month low against the yen Monday in  Tokyo  as Japanese exporters sought to repatriate overseas earnings at the end of the April to June quarter.

At  5 p.m.  , the dollar fetched  101.38-39 yen  compared with  101.35-45 yen  in  New York  and  101.42-43 yen  in  Tokyo  at  5 p.m. Friday  . It moved between  101.24 yen  , its lowest level since  May 21  , and  101.48 yen  during the day, changing hands most frequently at  101.30 yen  .

The euro was quoted at  $1.3651-3652  and  138.40-44 yen  against  $1.3645-3655  and  138.37-47 yen  in  New York  and  $1.3619-3621  and  138.13-17 yen  in  Tokyo  late Friday afternoon.

"Exporters would have preferred to trade at around  102-103 yen  to the dollar but the U.S. currency drew selling on Monday as it fell on the end of the month as well as the end of the quarter," said  Yuzo Sakai  , manager of foreign exchange business promotion at  Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow  .

Further advances in either direction were limited, however, as traders waited on major events later in the week.

The  Bank of Japan  on Tuesday releases its Tankan quarterly report on business confidence, the first since a consumption tax hike in April.

In  the United States  , the  Institute for Supply Management  is set to release data on the manufacturing and services sectors on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics  will provide key jobs data for June also on Thursday.

In addition to nonfarm payroll increases, "(U.S. Federal Reserve chief  Janet) Yellen  has spoken of the unemployment rate, the number of long-term unemployed, short-term wage increases, and the labor force participation rate, all of which will be looked at closely by the market," said  Minori Uchida  , head of  Tokyo  global market research at the  Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ  .

Yellen speaks at the  International Monetary Fund  on Wednesday.

The euro was little changed against the dollar and recovered a loss against the yen on Monday ahead of eurozone inflation data for May due later in the day.

The  European Central Bank  earlier in June announced unprecedented easing measures including a negative deposit rate. Weak inflation could lead to expectations of further easing down the line such as Fed-style asset purchases, Uchida said.

Source: JapanEconomicNewswire