TOKYO: The dollar eased against the yen in Asia on Thursday after rising to its highest levels in three weeks as Japanese exporters sold the greenback, dealers said.
The dollar bought 81.55 yen in Tokyo morning trade, after topping 81.80 yen earlier Thursday. The dollar traded at 81.64 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The dollar lost ground due to selling by Japanese exporters, a senior dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.
Although selling pressure has waned from the exporters in recent weeks after the massive March earthquake disrupted Japan's production activities, "they still get some dollars to sell from their regular activities," he said.
The euro fetched $1.4281 in Tokyo morning, up from $1.4236. Against the yen, the euro traded at 116.47 yen compared with 116.38 yen in New York.
The yen moved little after government data showed a much larger than expected decline in Japan's January-March gross domestic product (GDP) due to the impact of the March earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear crisis.
Official data released early Thursday showed Japan's economy plunged back into recession in January-March, contracting by a much worse-than-expected annualised 3.7 percent in the first three months of the year.
But attention is to be focused more closely on the expected broader impact for the April-June quarter and intervening monthly trade data, said Daisuke Karakama, market economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank.
"If the trade data shows Japan's exports deteriorating, the yen will likely weaken further because of demand-supply issues," he said.
The dollar eased in New York as Europe continued to battle over a Greek debt restructuring and new data showed the US central bank still largely unconcerned about inflationary pressures.
Minutes from the US Federal Reserve's April policy meeting showed very little concern over inflation from most Fed governors and also gave scant evidence for a quick move toward tightening.
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