Dollar slips in Asia despite upbeat jobs data

The dollar drifted lower in Asia on Friday as weak inflation figures and disappointing US corporate results dampened investor sentiment, while the euro was also under pressure on deflation fears. The greenback bought 104.34 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade, down from 104.37 yen in New York on Thursday, and after a Japanese government report described Asia’s number-two economy as “recovering” for the first time in six years. The euro weakened to 142.08 yen from 142.11 yen while it fetched $ 1.3614 compared with $ 1.3615 in US trade. “It seems that the market is still finding its feet after the turn of year despite data in general pointing to positive growth momentum,” Credit Agricole said. “While we are of the view that market sentiment will remain healthy in the next months and quarters, evidently this is far from a one way bet,” it added. On Thursday, the US Department of Labor said weekly unemployment claims fell 2,000 last week, indicating the jobs market is recovering slowly. The department also said consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in December from November, and core prices – stripping out volatile energy and food prices – were up just 0.1 percent. The yearly rate was 1.5 percent and the core rate 1.7 percent, below the Federal Reserve’s 2.0 percent target. Wall Street was spooked by poor earnings from a number of big firms. Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged 28.6 percent after saying November-December same-store sales were lower than the previous year’s holiday season, according to AFP.