SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar weakened in afternoon trading here as the yen continued to rise on heightened expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates this week despite signs of opposition from the Japanese government, dealers said.
SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar was weaker here against the yen and euro following an overnight trading session where the US currency softened on profit taking despite a number of stronger-than-expected US economic data releases, dealers said.
The immediate focus for the Asia trading session is the much-awaited Bank of Japan interest rate decision which is due to be announced this afternoon Tokyo time, followed by a speech from the central bank's governor Toshihiko Fukui.
At 10:26 am (2326 GMT Tuesday), the dollar was at 120.78 yen from 120.61 in late New York trading while the euro was at 1.2914 usd, weakening from 1.2920 earlier.
At 5.23 pm GMT, the US dollar was trading at 1.1753 against the Canadian currency, just off a high of 1.1761 cad and well above the day's low of 1.1644.
