The US dollar was mixed in late trade here, rebounding off early lows against the yen but slipping back against the euro as participants await some key data and events this week before the long Easter holiday weekend, dealers said.
After Friday's solid non-farm payrolls report for March and a spike in US yields, the US unit rose 118.40 yen while euro fell to 1.2090 low.
While the payrolls report would seem to raise expectations for another increase in key US interest rates next month, attention this week will be more focused on the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) policy meeting, which started today and US international trade data due Wednesday.
In early Asian trade players pared back their dollar/yen positions to await the BOJ's policy announcement tomorrow, likely before 1 pm Japan time (0400 GMT).
"This is the first time the central bank's Policy Board is (being) convened since the end of "quantitative easing," analysts at DBS Bank noted. Quantitative easing, was a five year super-loose monetary policy designed to fight deflation which the BoJ abandoned recently.
While the BOJ is widely expected to keep policy unchanged and retain rates near zero, "Tomorrow's policy statement and press conference are important opportunities for the BOJ to provide guidance on how long the current zero interest rate policy is likely to last," the analysts said.
Beyond the BOJ announcement, the first set of major US economic indicators due this week will be the February trade data on Wednesday. A survey by Market News International predicts the deficit to narrow to an average of 67.0 bln usd after hitting another new record of 68.5 bln usd in January. An unexpectedly wide February deficit could lead to fresh dollar selling, although players are likely to be discouraged from taking large speculative positions in a shortened trading week with markets closed on Good Friday, dealers said.