TOKYO, Mar 19 – The dollar was little moved in thin Tokyo trading on Friday as investors looked for new clues before the end of the Japanese fiscal year, dealers said.
The dollar stood at 90.45 yen, up slightly from 90.39 in Thursday afternoon in New York. The euro was at 1.3621 dollars and 123.20 yen, compared with 1.3603 dollars and 123.07 yen in New York.
Stock market gains benefited the dollar, but its upper movement was capped by a dearth of incentives heading into a long weekend in Japan. Monday is a national holiday.
Tokyo\’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 71.49 points to 10,815.52 by the morning break and stayed in positive territory in the afternoon, following an overnight rise on Wall Street.
"It appears that the support for the dollar is very solid. But selling is seen once it climbs a bit," said Resona Bank dealer Masatoshi Omata. "It seems the market is just saving up its energy for whatever comes next."
Market activity should increase as the close of the Japanese fiscal year approaches at the end of this month and businesses square away trading positions, Omata said.
Against regional currencies the dollar eased to 1,131.10 South Korean won from 1,132.25 a day earlier, to 9,095 Indonesian rupiah from 9,130, and to 45.56 Philippine pesos from 45.63.
It rose to 1.3944 Singapore dollars from 1.3938 and to 31.72 Taiwan dollars from 31.69, while remaining unchanged at 32.30 Thai baht.
