TOKYO: The dollar edged up against the yen on Friday in light bargain hunting following two sessions of losses, with some markets slowly getting into gear after the Christmas holiday.
After a dip to 120.005 yen the dollar was up 0.1 percent at 120.170 yen, crawling back towards the week’s high of 120.800 hit on Tuesday. A break above that peak would put the greenback in sight of a 7-1/2 year high of 121.860 scaled earlier in the month.
The UK market will remain closed on Friday although New York will be open. Market participants expected it would still take a bit of time for business to resume in full swing, with key markets in the region such Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore closed on Friday.
Market analyst Junichi Ishikawa said that the recent drop by the dollar was contained shows that risk sentiment continues to improve. There is no change to our view that the yen will continue to weaken as the recovery in US economic fundamentals, which is at the root of risk appetite, continues to gather pace.
The euro inched down 0.1 percent to $1.2210, edging back towards 28 month trough of $1.2165 reached on Tuesday in light of robust US GDP data that further boosted prospects for the world’s largest economy.
