LONDON: The U.S. dollar rose slightly in the lower 119 yen zone Friday morning in Tokyo on buying by Japanese importers.
At noon, the dollar fetched 119.39-40 yen compared with 119.13-23 yen in New York and 119.16-18 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The euro was quoted at $1.1404-1408 and 136.16-18 yen against $1.1406-1416 and 135.95-136.05 yen in New York and $1.1389-1391 and 135.71-75 yen in Tokyo late Thursday afternoon.
The dollar gained some footing in midmorning, briefly rising to the mid-119 yen level, supported by purchases by domestic importers for settlement purposes, dealers said.
A rise in the Nikkei stock index also helped bolster market participants’ risk-taking sentiment and pushed the U.S. currency up against the yen, deemed as a relatively safe asset, they said.
But “it was hard for the dollar-yen pair to find a sense of direction given the vague outlook for the U.S. economy” due to mixed economic data, said Toru Moritani, chief market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Moritani said the labor market seemed to be strong, but reports involving other sectors did not reflect it.
