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Dollar rises to lower 90 yen level on optimism for U.S. stimulus package+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Jan. 16_(Kyodo) _ The U.S. dollar rose to the lower 90 yen level Friday morning in Tokyo as an additional U.S. economic stimulus plan improved investor sentiment for the currency. At noon, the dollar fetched 90.05-10 yen versus 89.79-89 yen in New York and 89.07-09 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday. The euro traded at $1.3207-3212 and 118.97-119.02 yen against $1.3115-3125 and 117.80-90 yen in New York and $1.3149-3150 and 117.12-16 yen in Tokyo late Thursday. The dollar started off Tokyo trading just under the 90 yen line, then gradually edged higher to the lower 90 yen level after details of the additional U.S. economy-boosting package were unveiled Thursday. "Market participants believe tax cuts and federal spending will help steer the (U.S.) economy out of recession," which is positive for the dollar, said Ryohei Muramatsu, manager of Group Treasury Asia at Commerzbank in Tokyo. On Thursday, Democrats in the House of Representatives proposed a stimulus package worth $825 billion for the recovery of the ailing U.S. economy. Of the total, $550 billion is intended for spending on such areas as clean and efficient energy, infrastructure, education and healthcare, and $275 billion for tax cuts. Also in Tokyo morning deals, a rebound in U.S. and Japanese shares lifted investor sentiment for the dollar, dealers said. Japan's key Nikkei Stock Average finished the morning in positive territory after a sell-off Thursday that at one point sent the index below the 8,000 line. The euro also strengthened relative to both the dollar and yen in the morning as Thursday's rate cut by the European Central Bank was within market expectations, dealers said. But the euro is likely face downward pressure as the ECB's reluctance to cut the key rate further could be perceived as being slow in tackling the worsening eurozone economy, said Masafumi Yamamoto, head of foreign exchange strategy in Japan at the Royal Bank of Scotland. The ECB trimmed the base rate 0.5 percentage point to 2.0 percent, the lowest since the 1999 launch of the single European currency, but suggested an additional rate cut will not come until at least March. Copyright ? 2009 Kyodo News International, Inc. |