The dollar eased against the yen Friday after posting healthy gains on speculation the Bank of Japan will usher in a fresh easing measures.
The greenback bought 80.02 yen in Tokyo morning trade against 80.26 yen in New York late Thursday, where it had touched a four-month high of 80.34 yen.
The euro changed hands at 103.53 yen and $1.2934 against 103.78 yen and $1.2930. The dollar had gained ground ahead of Friday’s release of US gross domestic product data for the third quarter, with expectations of 1.9 percent growth, up from 1.3 percent in the previous three months. Citibank Japan chief currency strategist Osamu Takashima said the dollar, which sank to post-war lows around 75 yen last year, had room for more gains.
“My view is unchanged that the dollar is on its way to 82.00,” he said.
However much of the yen’s recent weakness came from expectations that Japan’s central bank will take further policy measures after a meeting next week.
Poor September trade data has underlined a stall in Japan’s economic recovery while policymakers are also aiming to tackle the deflation that has haunted the world’s third-largest economy for years. On Friday, official data showed consumer prices, excluding the volatile price of fresh food, edged down 0.1 percent year-on-year in September, the fifth consecutive monthly fall.
A survey of 10 analysts by Dow Jones Newswires showed they expected the bank to boost an 80 trillion yen asset-purchase programme — its main policy tool — but were split on the size of any increase, with estimates ranging from 5.0 trillion yen to 20.0 trillion yen.
“It’s a chance for Japan to catch up with central bankers’ competition to ease monetary policy, in which case the yen will decline against the dollar,” said Marito Ueda, currency dealer at FX Prime.
The euro has been see-sawing as markets keep a close eye on a possible Spanish bailout and the situation in Greece amid continued delays on a revised rescue plan with Athens’ key international creditors. The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It eased to 1,097.44 South Korean won from 1,101.40 won on Thursday, to 41.31 Philippine pesos from 41.34 pesos, to 53.55 Indian rupees from 53.79 rupees, and to 9,605 Indonesian rupiah from 9,621 rupiah.
It firmed to 30.72 Thai baht from 30.69 baht, to Sg$1.2218 from Sg$1.2214, and to Tw$29.52 from Tw$29.26.
