On Monday the greenback edged lower versus the yen in Asia trade, as investors kept their gains after last week's rally which brought the dollar to its 13-year peak.
Investors were also cautious as the Nikkei index was lower from the opening bell, following the weakness in U.S. stocks Friday.
USD/JPY was last at 125.49, compared with 125.64 late Friday in New York.
After hitting a 13-year high of 125.86 Friday in the wake of
better-than-expected U.S. jobs data for May, the greenback has been
trimming its gains on profit taking.
The Nikkei Stock Average’s was weaker from the
opening bell, following a fall in U.S. stocks Friday. The benchmark Nikkei
index was down 0.1% midday Monday.
The upbeat jobs data spurred worries over a possible early rate increase by the Federal
Reserve. Some of that caution made investors buy the
perceived safety of the Japanese currency Monday.
Due to the yen’s rapid drop in recent session, some of Japan’s life insurance firms have reportedly decided to hold back on unhedged investment in foreign bonds, out of concern that their asset values will decline if the yen reverses course and strengthens in the future, says MarketWatch.
Many of Japan’s life insurers put together their outbound investment plans assuming the greenback would reach 125 yen at the fiscal year in March.
Elsewhere in the currency trading, the euro was at $1.1102 from $1.1113 late in New York, with EUR/JPY at 139.24 from 139.57.
Investors are closely watching developments in the Greek bailout issue. Over the weekend, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to come up with alternative economic reforms "swiftly" so that the talks could continue this week. Tsipras took a defiant stance in a speech in his country’s parliament on Friday.
More pressure was added on him, as French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Sunday that a deal
on Greece debt to keep the country in the eurozone would be impossible
after the end of June.
