Dollar rally stumbles in Asian trade

TOKYO: The dollar's rally against the yen stumbled in Asian trade on Tuesday morning as investors looked for concrete signs that the US Federal Reserve would roll back its huge bond-buying programme.

The dollar broke through the 102-yen level in Asian trading Monday on the back of speculation that the Fed could be the first among major central banks to roll back a policy known as quantitative easing, as fresh data point to a brighter outlook for the world's biggest economy.

A weekend article in the Wall Street Journal said the Fed had come up with a strategy to wind down its $85-billion per month bond-buying programme, which has placed downward pressure on the dollar.

The story "continues to reverberate, despite the absence in the piece of any hints as to when the Fed might actually begin the process or precisely what form it night take", said National Australia Bank (NAB).

In morning Tokyo trade, the dollar bought 101.50 yen, weakening from 101.82 yen in New York on Monday but still stronger than the 99-yen range a week earlier.