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Tokyo - The dollar lost steam in Asia on Monday as Japanese exporters moved to sell the greenback following its sharp rebound on strong US jobs data, dealers said.
The dollar was changing hands at ¥89.93 in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from ¥90.47 in New York late on Friday.
The euro rose to 1.4889 dollars from 1.4852 while falling to 133.81 yen from 134.48.
"The dollar's rebound was stemmed as export companies are selling," Resona Bank dealer Masatoshi Omata said.
"They had been seeking opportunities to sell dollars and finally saw the dollar's rebound," he said, adding that the greenback was likely to stay weak, with US interest rates expected to remain low for some time.
The dollar fell to its lowest level in 14 years against the yen in late November, dampening the earnings outlook of Japanese exporters whose overseas income would be eroded by the strong yen when repatriated.
The dollar shot up in New York on Friday after strong jobs data cheered investors who saw it as a sign of US economic recovery.
Official data showed the US labour market witnessed a dramatic improvement in November as the number of jobs lost narrowed to 11 000 and the unemployment rate dipped to 10.0%.
But Omata said "this one-off pickup in employment will not lead to an immediate rate hike" by the Federal Reserve.
"The dollar will likely stay weak although market players may not aggressively push with dollar selling" in the face of monetary authorities' threat to act to curb currency volatility, he said.
Nomura Securities also expected the yen to appreciate through the fiscal year to March, expecting the dollar to drop to as low as ¥83.00.
The brokerage suggested that the Bank of Japan might be ready to implement additional monetary easing measures.
"Any such move, in our view, would help hold long-term interest rates at a low level and ease the upward pressure on the yen," Nomura said.
The dollar gained broadly against Asian currencies.
It rose to 1.3878 Singapore dollars from 1.3830 Friday, to 1 154 South Korean won from 1 153, to 9 440 Indonesian rupiah from 9 425, to 33.16 Thai baht from 33.14, and to 32.21 Taiwan dollars from 32.15.
Meanwhile, it fell to 46.07 Philippine pesos from 46.35.
AFP and Dow Jones Newswires