LONDON: The U.S. dollar stayed at the lower 119 yen level Monday morning in Tokyo as a U.S. jobs report provided few clues about the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike and volatile Tokyo stocks kept traders on edge.
At noon, the dollar fetched 119.37-38 yen compared with 119.00-10 yen in New York and 119.22-24 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday.
The euro was quoted at $1.1152-1153 and 133.13-14 yen against $1.1133-1143 and 132.61-71 yen in New York and $1.1144-1145 and 132.86-90 yen in Tokyo late Friday afternoon.
The U.S. currency rose to the mid-119 yen level temporarily in the morning in line with a rise in the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, which rose more than 200 points at one point.
But once the Nikkei saw its earlier gains wiped out and ended the morning session lower, the dollar sagged to the lower 119 yen level amid increased risk aversion, which raised demand for the perceived safety of the yen.
The closely watched U.S. jobs report, released Friday, did little to allay market players’ uncertainties about when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, given its mixed showing, dealers said.
The U.S. unemployment rate in August dropped to a seven-year low of 5.1 percent but the economy added fewer nonfarm jobs in the reporting month than expected at 173,000.
“The report offered no hints that would enable the Fed to hurry up with a rate hike, but at the same time it didn’t damage the possibility of a rate hike, showing at least a certain level of recovery in the labor market,” said Minori Uchida, head of Tokyo global market research at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The jobs data came after a recent rout in global financial markets reduced market bets that the Fed would raise interest rates later this month, with concerns about a slowdown in the Chinese economy feared to drag down global growth.
