Yen gains in Asian trade

The yen strengthened in Asia afternoon as investors locked in profits from betting on the dollar's recent surge, but the Japanese unit's decline was still on track, dealers said.

In Tokyo trade, the greenback fetched 101.04 yen, down from 101.14 yen in New York Friday and 102.33 yen in Tokyo on Friday morning.

Dollar weakness "would last only for a short time as appetite to buy the pair on dips remains strong," said a senior dealer at a major bank in Tokyo. The dollar rose past 103 yen this month to hit its highest level since October 2008 on the Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing and robust US economic data. Easing tends to push down a national currency.

Dollar trade has been influenced by differing interpretations over comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke last week, although dealers generally saw him as saying the Fed needed to see a few months' more data before it would weigh reining in its bond-purchase programme.

In other trade, the euro also weakened against the Japanese currency at 130.60 yen from 130.82 yen on Friday, while it bought $1.2926 from $1.2936.

AFP