Dollar Flat Against Yen With Lack of Fresh Cues

The dollar was flat against the yen and the euro in directionless Asian trade Friday, with a lack of fresh trading cues making investors reluctant to take lopsided, strong positions ahead of the weekend.

Around 0450 GMT, the dollar was at Y119.00, unchanged from late Thursday in New York.

The greenback tracked the overnight weak tone against the yen following downbeat initial jobless claims in the U.S., but remained trapped in an extremely tight range given a lack of fresh cues. Amid thin liquidity, investors avoided making major moves especially after a series of soft economic data in the U.S.

“We are seeing the (dollar-yen) trading range moving down but it still remains rangebound due to a lack of fresh cues,” says Marito Ueda, director of FX Prime byGMO.

But Mr. Ueda said “there is no change in the dollar’s uptrend.” There have been concerns about tepid U.S. economic data but “if we look at it calmly, the strong momentum (in the dollar) is just going back to normal,” said Mr. Ueda.

Looking ahead, Mr. Ueda said possible developments in Greek debt talks or concerns pointing to a Greek default could provide direction from next week, as could monetary policy setting meetings in the U.S. and Japan later this month.

Greece needs a deal to secure billions of euros in bailout aid to avoid defaulting on its debts by this summer and potentially tumbling out of the euro. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he is hopeful the Syriza-led government will soon reach a deal with its international creditors on Greece’s debt, as “liquidity is drying up in Greece.”

The euro was at $1.0773 from $1.0762, while the common currency was at Y128.19 from Y127.98.

Due to lingering Greek concerns, “it’s hard to expect euro buying in a positive manner ahead of the weekend,” said Kumiko Ishikawa, analyst at Gaitame.Com Research Institute.

But she said the euro may get a tailwind from the dollar selloff assuming downbeat readings of both U.S. consumer price index and University of Michigan consumer sentiment index scheduled to come out later Friday.