LONDON: The U.S. dollar fell slightly to the mid-123 yen zone Monday morning in Tokyo as sluggish global stocks raised demand for the yen, deemed a relatively safe asset.
At noon, the dollar fetched 123.46-47 yen compared with 123.74-84 yen in New York and 123.91-93 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday.
The euro was quoted at $1.1007-1011 and 135.92-93 yen against $1.0977-0987 and 135.86-96 yen in New York and $1.0941-0943 and 135.57-61 yen in Tokyo late Friday afternoon.
The dollar traded weakly against the yen as market participants’ risk-taking sentiment was dampened by a recent decline in global stock markets, dealers said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the fourth consecutive day through Friday and Tokyo and Chinese equities performed poorly on Monday morning.
“A slump in U.S. new home sales data for June released on Friday made it hard to buy the dollar,” said Yuzo Sakai, manager of foreign exchange business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow.
Yen buying by Japanese exporters before the end of the month also weighed on the dollar, Sakai said.
But the U.S. currency’s downswing was limited amid a wait-and-see mood ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, he added.
The euro gained some footing against the dollar, while it moved narrowly versus the yen.
