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Dollar Gains Ground Vs Yen in Tokyo on Livedoor Debacle

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 18:00 CST

Tokyo, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press)--The dollar briefly rose above 115 yen in Tokyo Tuesday morning following a slide in Japanese stocks triggered by the launch of criminal investigations into livedoor Co. , a high-profile Japanese Internet company.

The dollar rose as high as 115.27 yen in early Tokyo hours as the Nikkei stock average tumbled more than 200 points at the start of the session of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

But the dollar pared gains as the Nikkei retained the 16,000 support and began bouncing back.

The dollar fell to a low of 114.88 yen toward midday.

At noon, the U.S. currency stood at 114.91-93 yen, up from 114.31- 34 yen at 5 p.m. Monday.

The euro was quoted at 1.2103-2105 dollars, compared with 1.2146- 2149 dollars late Monday.

Japanese prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission on Monday searched the offices of livedoor and livedoor Marketing Co. as well as the home of livedoor President Takafumi Horie on allegations that they were engaged in illicit deals designed to boost the price of livedoor Marketing shares.

Horie is an iconic figure for Japanese would-be entrepreneurs, having created a multibillion-dollar business empire in a matter of less than 10 years.

"The livedoor news fueled dollar buybacks that were already under way. The news did not have any further impact," an official of a U.S. bank said.

Players believe that the incident is unlikely to affect the medium-term direction of the dollar-yen rate.END

Source: Jiji Press English News Service

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