Dollar falls to 10-month low vs. yen
By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 2:37 AM ET July 15, 2002
<<...TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- The dollar weakened against the yen Monday to its lowest level since Sept. 11.
The dollar's weakness fueled selling of Japan's export-related shares, already hurting from Wall Street's declines and worse-than-expected consumer sentiment data in the U.S., Japan's biggest trade partner.
A fall in major exporters such as Nissan Motor and Canon dragged down the key Nikkei Average by 226.30 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 10,375.15.
The broader Topix gave 1.9 percent to 1,000.48.
Elsewhere in the region, South Korea and Taiwan stocks fell as investors moved to lock in profits after the indexes each soared nearly 4 percent on Friday.
Dollar at 10-month low vs. yen
The dollar lost more ground against the yen in the afternoon session, falling to as low as 116.16 yen. It was quoted at 116.85 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar has fallen more than 3 percent against the yen since the start of this month, and about 13 percent in the past three months.
Investors feared that the yen's strength against the dollar would erode exporters' overseas revenues when exchanged into the home currency. Slow growth for such companies could hinder Japan's export-oriented economic recovery.
"Both equity and currency traders are very nervous because they are wary of the Bank of Japan's intervention as the yen further firms vs. dollar. The market also is concerned about U.S. corporate earnings this week -- that's why trading is very thin," said Teruhisa Ishikawa, a deputy manager for Izumi Securities.
"I would advise individual investors to stay sidelined for a while, until the market start showing a clear direction with corporate earnings and other economic data."
The BOJ, which has intervened to stem yen strength seven times since late May, has repeatedly said it is ready to take action again "when necessary."..>> |
