TOKYO: The dollar weakened against the yen in Asian trade Wednesday after moving close to the 100 yen mark in the morning, while the euro softened on the back of poor economic data.
The dollar bought 99.42 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 99.48 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon, while the euro fetched $1.2998 and 129.23 yen compared with $1.2997 and 129.30 yen.
In the morning the dollar had edged up to 99.77 yen thanks to fresh buying from short-term traders who suffered losses from a wild swing Tuesday sparked by a bogus tweet about explosions at the White House, said a dealer at a major Japanese bank.
"They are apparently aiming to get back losses suffered overnight," the dealer told Dow Jones Newswires, adding that the greenback would still top the 100 yen mark last reached in April 2009.
The greenback had dropped to the mid-98 yen level Tuesday after the tweet from Associated Press, which the agency quickly pulled down saying it had been hacked.
The euro came under selling pressure after a widely watched survey on Tuesday showed private sector business activity remained weak across the 17-nation eurozone in April, underscoring a gloomy outlook for the debt-hit bloc.
The results raising expectations of further easing by the European Central Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) said.
"The (data) were disappointing, keeping the eurozone on track for another contraction in the second quarter," NAB said.
"But instead of raising global concerns (especially after Tuesday's weak Chinese manufacturing data), equity markets rallied as it raised the prospect of another rate cut from the ECB," it noted.
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