By Hiroyuki Kachi
The dollar was largely flat against the yen in quiet Asia trade
Monday, with investors taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of
monetary policy meetings both in the U.S. and Japan later this
week.
Around 0250 GMT, the dollar was at Y118.89, compared with
Y118.99 late Friday in New York.
The greenback kicked off Asia trade with a soft tone following
its broad weakness against rivals currencies Friday after
lackluster U.S. data for durable goods orders in March.
Amid a lack of fresh cues Monday, investors were shying away
from taking strong moves ahead of the outcomes of the Federal Open
Market Committee meeting Wednesday and the Bank of Japan policy
meeting Thursday.
Most investors seem to expect both central banks to stand pat on
policy, but there are still faint hopes among some market
participants that the BOJ may ease again at its upcoming meeting
given comments from political circles.
A ruling-party lawmaker and ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
said last week that the central bank should increase asset
purchases--including those of government and corporate bonds as
well as exchange-traded funds--and start buying municipal
bonds.
The focus among investors monitoring the FOMC will be on any
hints over the time frame for raising short-term rates.
"It's difficult to make a move and that is what investors really
feel," says Marito Ueda, director at FX Prime byGMO.
Mr. Ueda said orders are lined up for dollar selling from the
middle of the Y119 range, while dollar-buying orders are being
placed from Y118.50, sandwiching the greenback in a range.
"As far as we can tell from the orders (for the dollar against
the yen), the market will need considerable energy to step out
either side" of the current range, said Mr. Ueda.
Among other currency pairs, the euro was at $1.0865 from
$1.0875, while the common currency was at Y129.13 from Y129.32.
The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket
of major currencies, was unchanged at 86.41.
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 22:50 EST / 0250 GMT
Latest Previous %Chg Daily Daily %Chg
Dollar Rates Close High Low 12/31
USD/JPY Japan 118.89-90 118.97-98 -0.07 119.02 118.75 -0.69
EUR/USD Euro 1.0864-67 1.0872-75 -0.07 1.0880 1.0861 -10.19
GBP/USD U.K. 1.5184-89 1.5185-90 -0.01 1.5188 1.5173 -2.52
USD/CHF Switzerland 0.9536-40 0.9536-40 0.00 0.9544 0.9526 -4.07
USD/CAD Canada 1.2151-56 1.2177-82 -0.21 1.2180 1.2151 +4.58
AUD/USD Australia 0.7824-28 0.7818-22 +0.08 0.7838 0.7820 -4.22
NZD/USD New Zealand 0.7615-21 0.7599-605 +0.21 0.7629 0.7602 -2.27
Euro Rates
EUR/JPY Japan 129.14-18 129.33-37 -0.15 129.35 129.12 -10.89
Source: ICAP PLC
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com