Dollar slightly up against yen ahead of Yellen
The dollar was a tad higher against the yen on Monday in Asia, with investors sitting on the sidelines ahead of key events such as Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's congressional testimony on monetary policy and the economy.
Market jitters over a possible worsening of the euro zone's financial system last week seem to have passed for the time being.
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As of 0450 GMT, the dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/realtime/sampled /quotes/zigman/4867933/realtime/sampled USDJPY +0.0395% was fractionally up at Y101.39, compared with Y101.34 late Friday in New York. The euro EURUSD +0.0110% was at $1.3604 from $1.3609, and at Y137.93 from Y137.90 against the yen.
Tokyo shares opened higher and were up 0.9% at 15307.31 in mid-afternoon trade, indicating an improvement in risk-taking sentiment as investors concluded that last week's concerns over the finances of a Portuguese bank are not likely to have wider implications for the euro-zone financial system. The greenback reached as high as Y101.43 shortly after the Tokyo Stock Exchange opening bell.
With no fresh trading cues during Asia trade hours, however, investors refrained from making any major moves ahead of Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's semiannual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Market participants are also awaiting U.S. financial sector earnings and U.S. economic data on retail sales and housing starts due later this week.
Still, these events are unlikely to give a clear new direction for dollar-yen trading, said Marito Ueda, a director at FX Prime by GMO Corp.
'The situation will likely remain in a standoff for the time being,' said Mr. Ueda, who expects the dollar to trade between Y101.20 and Y101.80 for the rest of the week.
Market participants say a Bank of Japan policy board meeting finishing Tuesday and a subsequent press conference by Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda are unlikely to deliver any surprises for the market.
None of the economists and strategists surveyed by the Japan Center for Economic Research foresee any additional monetary easing moves from the bank this time around, although 16 of the 37 respondents still expect the central bank to take action at their meeting in October.
The WSJ Dollar Index , a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.03% at 72.85.
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