Dollar Moves Narrowly Below 119 Yen in Tokyo Morning

Tokyo, Nov. 24 (Jiji Press)–The dollar moved narrowly below 119 yen in Tokyo Thursday morning, following its drop close to 118 yen in overseas trading during the Japanese market’s closure on Wednesday.

After fluctuating between 118.53 yen and 118.79 yen, the U.S. currency stood at 118.70-73 yen at noon, down from 119.04-06 yen at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The euro was quoted at 1.1814-1817 dollars, up from 1.1728-1730 dollars late Tuesday. The Tokyo market was closed on Wednesday for a national holiday.

In overseas trading Wednesday, the dollar briefly fell to a low of 118.20 yen as players stepped up selling following Tuesday’s release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Nov. 1, which showed that some policymakers were concerned about risks associated with further interest rate hikes. But the dollar rebounded above 118.50 yen later on buybacks.

In Tokyo, the dollar was pressured by modest waves of position- adjustment sales amid growing speculation that the Fed’s current credit tightening may end earlier than expected.

Dollar-yen trading was subdued in Tokyo as many players retreated to the sidelines ahead of the U.S. market closure on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day holiday, traders said.END