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Dollar eases to upper 108 yen range in Tokyo+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Aug. 29_(Kyodo) _ The U.S. dollar fell to the upper 108 yen level Friday in Tokyo amid persistent concern about the health of the U.S. economy and fears that crude oil prices could rebound. At 5 p.m., the dollar traded at 108.79-81 yen against Thursday's 5 p.m. quotes of 109.45-55 yen in New York and 108.89-92 yen in Tokyo. It moved between 108.68 yen and 109.57 yen during the day, changing hands most frequently at 109.10 yen. The euro was quoted at $1.4740-4741 and 160.36-40 yen against $1.4701-4711 and 160.97-161.07 yen in New York, and $1.4761-4764 and 160.76-80 yen in Tokyo late Thursday. After slipping into upper 108 yen territory in the morning, the dollar hovered in a narrow range before edging lower late in the afternoon with the entrance of European investors. "The fear of a crude oil rebound triggered selling of the dollar against the euro and the yen," said Toru Umemoto, foreign exchange strategist at Barclays Bank Plc in Tokyo. Umemoto said that concern intensified after Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that the Russian government had ordered at least one Russian oil company to "prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland" over the coming days. Dealers added that in addition to selling on the part of Japanese exporters, continuing worries about the U.S. economy, despite the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth data, also kept market players from buying the dollar. "The U.S. economy has not made enough of a recovery to push market participants to test (the dollar's) higher levels," said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of the foreign exchange and credit division at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. Shioiri said that although recent U.S. economic readings, including the Commerce Department's gross domestic product data for the April-June quarter, exceeded market expectations, the readings were "still far from indicating that the U.S. economy is expanding." On Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew much faster in the second quarter than initially reported, at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent, compared with the market forecast of 2.7 percent growth. While some investors sold the dollar ahead of the three-day weekend in the United States, currency dealers said the dollar's downside remained limited because some market participants decided to wait for the release of U.S. personal income and consumption readings for July, due out later in the day. Japanese economic data released early in the morning had little impact on the foreign exchange market, which is currently more focused on the oil market, interest rate gaps and economic conditions overseas than the Japanese economy. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |