TOKYO: The dollar eased against the yen Tuesday as a rally fuelled by last week's US jobs report faded, while worries that Greece could leave the eurozone put pressure on the European currency.
The greenback was at 118.50 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade against 118.64 yen in New York Monday afternoon.
The euro bought $1.1331 compared with $1.1325 in US trade while falling to 134.27 yen from 134.35 yen.
Friday's strong jobs growth figures raised expectations the Federal Reserve will bring forward an interest rate hike this year and sent investors on a dollar-buying spree.
"The good US employment report drove the dollar up two yen, but before that, the currency was range-bound for a long time," said Keisuke Hino, a foreign-exchange trader at Mizuho Bank in New York.
"It feels like everybody has done their buying, so it's natural for the greenback to fall," he told Bloomberg News.
The euro is under pressure ahead of a European Union summit Thursday with Greece and its creditors at loggerheads over the country's bailout.
Greece's newly elected leaders have pledged to stick by their demands for a renegotiation of the stringent bailout demands.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis are asking for bridging loans so they can come up with an austerity-free reform deal to run from September 1.
But European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned he did not expect any new deal to be reached at the EU summit in Brussels, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Greece to present a "sustainable" finance plan.
The dollar was mixed against Asia-Pacific currencies.
It fell to 62.00 Indian rupees from 62.08 rupees on Monday, to Tw$31.48 from Tw$31.54, to 32.60 Thai baht from 32.61 baht and to 1,090.46 South Korean won from 1,097.72 won.
The greenback rose to 12,651.30 Indonesian rupiah from 12,647.50 rupiah, to Sg$1.3529 from Sg$1.3528, and to 44.35 Philippine pesos from 44.28.
The Australian dollar rose to 78.28 US cents from 77.60 cents, while the Chinese yuan fell to 18.97 yen from 19.04 yen.
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