Publications
Partners
Tokyo - The dollar held steady in Asia on Monday after soaring on a strong US jobs report that sparked talk the Federal Reserve would move more quickly to raise interest rates.
The greenback bought ¥125.47 in midday trading, down from ¥125.56 late on Friday in New York where the US unit climbed briefly to a 13-year high of ¥125.86.
But the dollar was slightly up from ¥124.45 in Tokyo on Friday before the US employment data.
The strong figures - a better-than-forecast 280 000 jobs created in May - came after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last month the plan to raise interest rates this year was on track.
But the yen got a slight boost Monday morning as fresh data showed Japan's economy grew 1.0% in January to March - or 3.9% at an annualised rate - sharply up from an initial estimate of 0.6% growth.
That weakened the case for more Bank of Japan monetary easing, which would tend to push down the yen.
In other trading, the euro weakened to $1.1097 and ¥139.28 from $1.1115 and ¥139.56 in US trade on Friday as investors watched for any sign of progress in Greek debt talks.
"The dollar's strength inevitably weakens the euro," Daisuke Karakama, chief market economist at Mizuho Bank, told Bloomberg News.
The dollar strengthened against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It climbed to Sg$1.3615 from Sg$1.3481 on Friday, to 13 373.00 Indonesian rupiah from 13 290.00 rupiah, and to 45.15 Philippine pesos from 44.92 pesos.
The greenback also rose to 64.07 Indian rupees from 63.94 rupees, to Tw$31.10 from Tw$30.86, to 1 122.58 South Korean won from 1 111.10 won, and to 33.91 Thai baht from 33.74 baht.
The Australian dollar weakened to 76.09 US cents from 77.03c while the Chinese yuan bought ¥20.20 against ¥20.03.
