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TOKYO: The dollar was softer in Asian trade Tuesday as traders
waited nervously for upcoming US data for fresh leads, after
Japanese business confidence slumped by slightly less than expected.
The dollar was at 105.75 yen in Tokyo afternoon
trade, down from 106.13 in New York late on Monday. The euro firmed
to $1.5769 from 1.5745 but slipped to 166.83 yen from 167.15.
Japanese business confidence fell to the lowest
level in almost five years in June, the central bank said in its
closely watched Tankan survey, but the results were not quite as bad
as the market had expected.
Dealers said worries about the health of the US
economy were weighing on the greenback ahead of a manufacturing
survey in the United States due later Tuesday, followed by key
employment data due on Thursday.
“With lingering worries over US financial
markets and high oil prices, downside risks for the dollar are
higher,” Keiichi Iguchi, a dealer at Resona Bank, told Dow Jones
Newswires.
Markets are pricing in at least one
25-basis-point rise in US interest rates this year, noted JPMorgan
Chase Bank strategist Tohru Sasaki.
“The risk is therefore tilted toward weak data
lowering rate hike expectations and pushing the dollar lower,” he
said.
Markets are also waiting for a European Central
Bank meeting on Thursday when interest rates are expected to rise by
25 basis points to 4.25 percent to try to curb inflation that hit 4
percent in the eurozone in June.
But analysts said European officials may also
start to be more attentive to slowing growth in the eurozone
economies.
-- AFP
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