By Hiroyuki Kachi 
 

The dollar was slightly higher against the yen and the euro during Asia trade Monday, as the U.S. currency gained some ground following Friday's selloff after the FBI said it was reviewing newly obtained emails linked to Hillary Clinton.

The Mexican peso, which has been highly sensitive to developments in the U.S. presidential race, was nearly unchanged at 18.96 a dollar midday in Asia session compared with late Friday in New York.

Around 0450 GMT, the U.S. dollar was changing hands at Y104.81, compared with Y104.70 late Friday in New York. The euro softened to $1.0967 from $1.0991 after rising to on Friday.

The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.03% at 88.65.

After hitting its fresh three-month high of Y105.54, the dollar slid Friday to Y104.46 after it emerged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing recently discovered emails linked to an earlier investigation of Mrs. Clinton's handling of classified information as secretary of state.

Many investors say they think a Clinton election victory will provide greater policy clarity and less uncertainty on trade negotiations. According to some polls, Mrs. Clinton's lead over rival Donald Trump has narrowed in the last stretch of the presidential campaign, prompting investors to buy the Japanese currency, a haven asset traditionally sought out in periods of geopolitical and financial instability.

In early Asia trade Monday, the dollar fell further to Y104.20. But the U.S. currency rebounded to come close to the Y105 threshold, with buying kicking in from Japanese importers and other corporate players related to their regular commercial trade settlement at the end of the month.

"Buying from Japanese corporate players helped provide a downside support," said Yuzo Sakai, manager of foreign-exchange business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow. However, weakness in the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average and uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election weighed down the dollar's upside just below the Y105 mark, said Mr. Sakai.

"Investors have found it difficult to make moves," after seeing the headlines on the new investigation, said Mr. Sakai.

"It seems [the dollar's at] Y106 looks a bit distant away," as the latest developments related to Mrs. Clinton had thrown cold water on the market, he said.

In other currency trade, the euro was lower at Y114.92 midday from Y115.06 late Friday.

 
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT 
 
                           Latest       Previous   %Chg    Daily    Daily   %Chg 
Dollar Rates                               Close            High      Low  12/31 
 
USD/JPY Japan           104.80-81      104.72-73  +0.07   104.94   104.69 -12.88 
EUR/USD Euro            1.0966-69      1.0985-88  -0.17   1.0987   1.0961  +0.99 
GBP/USD U.K.            1.2188-90      1.2185-87  +0.02   1.2201   1.2176 -17.28 
USD/CHF Switzerland     0.9875-79      0.9875-79   0.00   0.9889   0.9875  -1.43 
USD/CAD Canada          1.3403-08      1.3394-99  +0.07   1.3425   1.3397  -3.13 
AUD/USD Australia       0.7608-12      0.7597-601  +0.14   0.7615   0.7584  +4.43 
NZD/USD New Zealand     0.7153-59      0.7162-68  -0.13   0.7165   0.7141  +4.73 
 
Euro Rate 
 
EUR/JPY Japan           114.91-95      115.03-07  -0.10   115.20   114.86 -12.13 
 
 
Source: Tullett Prebon 
 
 

Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2016 01:34 ET (05:34 GMT)