TOKYO: The euro rose in Asian trade on Monday on bargain buying after falls late last week and as regional equity market gains buoyed risk appetite, dealers said. The single currency gained to $1.3607 from $1.3583, and rose to 111.88 yen from 111.62 yen.The euro gained against the dollar as short-term investors in Asia bought the European currency, taking cues from rising Japanese share prices, FXOnline Japan chief strategist Soichiro Mori said.
Tokyo's headline Nikkei stock index closed 0.46 percent higher at 10,592.04 points Investors will be focused on a speech from European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet later in the global trading day, Mori said.The euro fell late last week against the dollar after the ECB kept interest rates on hold Thursday and Trichet struck a less hawkish tone than before.
Trichet indicated that the central bank was less concerned about inflation than earlier thought -- and that any rate hike would come later in the year.The dollar was steady against the yen after a steep fall in the US jobless rate lifted US Treasury yields, dealers said.
The dollar fetched 82.23 yen in Tokyo afternoon trading, edging up slightly from 82.19 in New York late Friday."The dollar was bought (against the yen) as Treasury yields gained, taking their cue from the jobless rate," said Yuichiro Harada, dealer at Mizuho Corporate Bank.
US government data on Friday showed that the jobless rate fell sharply in January to 9.0 percent from 9.4 percent, but only 36,000 new jobs were created against expectations of 148,000.The data was distorted by the impact of heavy snowstorms and as adjusted population calculations affected the unemployment rate, dealers said."The headline nonfarm payrolls numbers were weak but many market participants see the numbers were affected by technical factors," Harada said.
Citibank Japan chief strategist Osamu Takashima told Dow Jones Newswires that selling from Japanese exporters may cap the greenback's upward momentum against the yen.The dollar was mixed against other Asian currencies.The unit rose to Sg$1.2751 from Sg$1.2738 on Friday and to 30.82 Thai baht from 30.80.The greenback fell to 1,107.35 Korean won from 1,113.60 and to Tw$28.98 from 29.02. It also slipped to 8,975.25 Indonesian rupiah from 9,028.00 and to 43.67 Philippine pesos from 43.78.
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