Dollar steady in quiet Asian trade
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
TOKYO, Oct 9 (AFP): The dollar moved in narrow ranges against other major currencies in Asian trade today as investors awaited fresh clues on the Federal Reserve's next interest rate move, dealers said.
They said last week's stronger than expected US labour market report had lowered expectations of another Fed rate cut this month.
The dollar slipped to 117.22 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade after 117.40 in New York late Monday.
The euro was flat at 1.4042 dollars but slipped to 164.33 yen from 164.88.
Trading was subdued after a long weekend in Tokyo and a quiet session in the United States overnight due to the Columbus Day holiday.
Dealers said the greenback was supported in the wake of Friday's surprisingly solid non-farm payrolls report which showed that 110,000 new jobs were created in September.
The agency also revised up its estimate for August to show a gain in jobs instead of a loss, assuaging concerns about the impact on the US economy of the problems in the US subprime mortgage sector for risky borrowers.
Players are now waiting for minutes to be released later in the day from the Fed's monetary policy meeting last month when the central bank lowered interest rates by half a per centage point to 4.75 per cent.
Although most analysts expect the central bank to leave its key lending rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent, some are not ruling out the possibility of a hike.
The dollar rose to 1.4752 Singapore dollars from 1.4688, to 9,097.55 Indonesian rupiah from 9,063.55, to 917.55 South Korean won from 914.84 and to 32.60 Taiwan dollars from 32.50.
The greenback was flat at 31.55 Thai baht and fell to a fresh seven-year low of 44.27 against the Philippine peso from 44.37.
They said last week's stronger than expected US labour market report had lowered expectations of another Fed rate cut this month.
The dollar slipped to 117.22 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade after 117.40 in New York late Monday.
The euro was flat at 1.4042 dollars but slipped to 164.33 yen from 164.88.
Trading was subdued after a long weekend in Tokyo and a quiet session in the United States overnight due to the Columbus Day holiday.
Dealers said the greenback was supported in the wake of Friday's surprisingly solid non-farm payrolls report which showed that 110,000 new jobs were created in September.
The agency also revised up its estimate for August to show a gain in jobs instead of a loss, assuaging concerns about the impact on the US economy of the problems in the US subprime mortgage sector for risky borrowers.
Players are now waiting for minutes to be released later in the day from the Fed's monetary policy meeting last month when the central bank lowered interest rates by half a per centage point to 4.75 per cent.
Although most analysts expect the central bank to leave its key lending rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent, some are not ruling out the possibility of a hike.
The dollar rose to 1.4752 Singapore dollars from 1.4688, to 9,097.55 Indonesian rupiah from 9,063.55, to 917.55 South Korean won from 914.84 and to 32.60 Taiwan dollars from 32.50.
The greenback was flat at 31.55 Thai baht and fell to a fresh seven-year low of 44.27 against the Philippine peso from 44.37.