Dollar edges up in Asia
The central bank has said any tapering hinges on a firm recovery in the world's biggest economy.
TOKYO (AFP) - The dollar edged up in Asia Monday as a weak batch of data ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting raised expectations the bank will keep its stimulus programme in place until next year.
In Tokyo afternoon trade the greenback bought 97.60 yen, up from 97.43 yen in New York Friday afternoon, while the euro bought $1.3802 from $1.3805. The European single currency firmed to 134.74 yen from 134.50 yen.
Rising risk sentiment and a Japanese stock market rally spurred the dollar's rise, but the unit's upside was capped by speculation over prolonged Fed easing.
The Fed's two-day monetary policy meeting opens Tuesday, and investors will pore over its decision for an idea of when it will start cutting back its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying scheme.
There had been widespread belief it would begin tapering by December at the latest, but analysts say weak jobs data and this month's government shutdown has made that unlikely.
On Friday, official figures showed a 3.7 percent jump in US durable goods orders. However, excluding transportation equipment, orders fell 0.1 percent, while core capital goods orders, a sign of future business investment, fell 1.1 percent.
The central bank has said any tapering hinges on a firm recovery in the world's biggest economy.
"The US dollar remains on the back foot, finding little help from data releases, especially last week's September employment report," Credit Agricole said.
"Friday's release of September durable goods orders similarly disappointed, with core orders coming in weaker than anticipated."
The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It slipped to 43.04 Philippine pesos from 43.07 pesos on Friday, to Sg$1.2363 from Sg$1.2368, to 31.07 Thai baht from 31.13 baht, and to 1,061.05 South Korean won from 1,062.30 won.
The dollar also weakened to 61.51 Indian rupees from 61.66 rupees, while it was almost flat at Tw$29.40 against Tw$29.39.
The greenback rose to 11,023 Indonesian rupiah from 10,948 rupiah.
The Australian dollar edged down to 96.03 US cents from 96.15 cents, while the Chinese yuan rose to 16.02 yen from 15.93 yen.
