TOKYO: The dollar faced downward pressure in Asia on Monday as investors bet the Federal Reserve will not speed up the pace of tapering of its stimulus programme after last week's US jobs report matched forecasts.
The greenback fetched 103.03 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with 103.26 yen late in New York and well below the 103.88 yen in Tokyo earlier Friday before the jobs data was released.
The euro bought 141.17 yen, down from 141.50 yen in New York on Friday and 142.36 yen on Friday in Tokyo.
Against the dollar, the euro fetched $1.3701, slightly down from $1.3704 in US trade.
The Labor Department said the world's number one economy added 192,000 jobs in March -- just below forecasts of 195,000 -- while the unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent.
Analysts had predicted the dollar would rally if the report showed more than 225,000 jobs added but would retreat if the figure came in below 150,000.
While the figures were an improvement on the previous three months -- which were hit by a severe winter -- they suggested the jobs sector is still not strong enough for the Fed to speed up the tapering of its monetary easing campaign. A quicker wind-down would tend to boost the dollar.
The report also showed average hourly earnings rose by 2.1 percent year-on-year, slower than an increase of 2.2 percent in February and expectations of 2.3 percent, National Australia Bank said.
"This keeps (Fed chair) Janet Yellen with the whip hand in arguing that there remains plenty of slack in the labour market," it added.
In Tokyo, the Bank of Japan started a two-day policy meeting on Monday.
Most analysts expect it hold off further easing measures as it gauges the impact of an April sales tax hike -- Japan's first in 17 years -- on the country's budding economic recovery.
The dollar also faced pressure as Tokyo stocks have slipped, with the benchmark Nikkei index losing 1.69 percent by the close.
"There's no direct reason behind the pair's fall, it's the result of position adjustments and the Nikkei's fall," said Kengo Suzuki, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.
But the market also lacked strong incentives to continue buying up the yen, he added.
"With the BoJ policy board meeting wrapping up tomorrow, I can't see yen-buying to continue further," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
The dollar was lower against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It edged down to 60.06 Indian rupees from 60.30 rupees on Friday, to 32.47 Thai baht from 32.54 baht, to Sg$1.2600 from Sg$1.2637 and to 44.89 Philippine pesos from 45.00 pesos.
It also eased to 1,054.30 South Korean won from 1,054.35 won.
The dollar firmed to 11,285 Indonesian rupiah from 11,309 rupiah.
The Australian dollar inched up to 92.77 US cents from 92.35 cents and the Chinese yuan bought 16.58 yen against 16.68 yen.
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