Yen up in Asia but traders say slide to resume

TOKYO: The dollar retreated a touch against the yen in Asian trade Tuesday, but dealers said it remained on course to break the 100-yen mark after G20 nations gave the green light to aggressive stimulus by Japan.

The dollar fetched 99.23 yen in Tokyo morning trade, from 99.35 yen in New York late Monday. The dollar last hit 100 yen in April 2009.

The euro also eased to 129.54 yen from 129.77 yen in US trading. And the single European currency fetched $1.3052 from $1.3062 in New York.

"Stocks look soft," a senior dealer at a major British bank in Tokyo told Dow Jones Newswires. "The dollar-yen failed to break the 100 mark for now."

But analysts said the underlying trend in dollar-yen trade was unchanged, with the Japanese currency set to resume its long slide as the Bank of Japan tries to kick-start the stagnant economy by effectively printing new money.

"A temporary resurgence in the yen is holding the market back thus far, but the overall trajectory is still lower," said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at Kabu.com Securities.

"So it's likely to be just a matter of time before the dollar reaches the 100-yen mark."

At weekend talks in Washington, G20 finance chiefs gave a cautious endorsement of Japan's huge monetary stimulus programme, which is designed to overcome years of falling prices that have crimped spending and investment.