By Masataka Nakamura
Tokyo, April 16 (BridgeNews) - The U.S. dollar and the euro traded listlessly against the yen Monday as the Hong Kong and Sydney markets were both closed for the Easter holidays. Both currencies initially rose against the yen in the morning, helped by dollar demand from Japanese players, but upward momentum soon waned, erasing earlier gains. Japanese banks were good buyers of the dollar against the yen during the Tokyo fixing. The euro/yen shadowed the dollar/yen movements.
Early in the session, the dollar/yen rose from 124.20 to 124.45, led by Japanese names' buying. Then, the pair extended its rise to the 124.80 level, helped by demand through the Tokyo fixing.
Masakazu Bunno, assistant general manager in International Trading Department at Sumitomo-Sakura Bank said that dollar demand through the fixing, coupled with short-covering pressures, underpinned the U.S currency early in the session.
Although the dollar/yen recouped some of the gains recorded early in the session after the fixing, profit-taking selling pushed the pair down. The Dollar/yen eased during light lunch-time trading Monday. At the outset of the session, the Nikkei 225 stock index suddenly advanced more than 100 points in 10 minutes, helped somewhat by a report that Japan's Princess Masako may be pregnant
This movement in the stock market caused yen short-covering against the dollar. However, in general dealers did not attach much significance to the movement, as trading conditions were thin.
Masakazu Bunno, assistant general manager at International Trading Department in Sumitomo-Sakura Bank said that the overall market lacked direction.
In fact, the dollar/yen slightly firmed, after the Nikkei stock index backed down after a buying early in the afternoon.
The euro/dollar moved little in the Far East on Monday. Few were willing to trade euro/dollar because of thin conditions, with many markets still closed.
Euro/yen flow was also limited in Monday's Asian session, contributing to steady euro/dollar trade.