TOKYO: The dollar sank to levels around ¥119.70 in Tokyo trading on Tuesday, dragged down by sales reflecting stock price falls.
At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥119.71-72, down from ¥120.10-12 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1403-1403, up from $1.1336-1337, and at ¥136.51-52, up from ¥136.16-17.
The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a national holiday. The greenback hovered around ¥120 in early trading on Tuesday, but began to fall as the Nikkei got off to a dismal start.
The U.S. currency rose back close to ¥120 in the midmorning, supported by a higher-than-expected Chinese trade surplus in September. But the resilience proved short-lived, with the trade data also showing that China’s imports decreased sharply in the reporting month, traders said.
The Chinese data “somewhat stoked risk-off sentiment among investors,” a foreign exchange broker said, noting that the weak imports suggested sluggish domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
After moving around ¥119.80, the dollar accelerated its downswing to move around ¥119.70 in late trading in the face of renewed selling.
Meanwhile, the euro expanded its gains against both the dollar and the yen in late trading, amid a fall in long-term U.S. Treasury bond yields in off-hours trading, market sources said.
