/www.fxserver.com/
The dollar was steady against the yen in midmorning trade as the local equity market sustained its fall, dealers said.
Overall trading was slow ahead of the US Labor Day holiday, they said.
Minori Takeuchi, foreign exchange analyst at JP Morgan Chase, said the dollar is expected to continue to be rangebound due to caution over the trend of the US economy and markets.
"In addition, (caution) ahead of the Sept 11 anniversary will cap the topside, while growing wariness over falling share prices in Japan is expected to continue to support the downside," she said.
"Market participants are also getting wary of the investment stance by foreign investors due to talk that more and more foreign investors are shifting funds out of Japanese assets."
However, dealers said investors refrained from taking fresh positions on the dollar/yen ahead of the release of key US economic data, such as non-farm payroll numbers.
The euro was easier due to caution ahead of the release of economic data, including GDP data there, they said.
"The euro/dollar is not likely to find a clear direction in the near-term due to the uncertainty over the trend of the US economy and the European economy," Takeuchi said.
Tokyo 10.15 am New York 3.33 pm London 4.05 pm
Dollar
yen 118.61 down from 118.68 118.50
sfr 1.5010 up from 1.4980 1.5005
Euro
usd 0.9807 down from 0.9819 0.9814
stg 0.6333 down from 0.6338 0.6340
yen 116.32 down from 116.52 116.37
sfr 1.4720 up from 1.4708 1.4718
Sterling
usd 1.5486 down from 1.5492 1.5480
yen 183.68 up from 183.85 183.37
sfr 2.3244 up from 2.3206 2.3216
Australian dollar
usd 0.5486 down from 0.5502 0.5512
stg 0.3543 down from 0.3551 0.3561
yen 65.07 down from 65.29 65.32
© AFX News