Reuters: US Dollar Report: FOREX-U.S. dollar eyes 100 yen; euro slips on Draghi comments

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FOREX-U.S. dollar eyes 100 yen; euro slips on Draghi comments May 6th 2013, 16:18 Mon May 6, 2013 12:18pm EDT * Dollar gains further against the yen * ECB's Draghi says watching data and ready to act again * Australian dollar falls, focus on Tuesday's RBA decision By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose for a third straight session against the yen on Monday and looked set to make another run at the 100 yen level after last week's surprisingly strong U.S. jobs data rekindled optimism about the U.S. economy. The euro slipped against the dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank is closely watching incoming data and is ready to take further action if needed to address economic weakness. The dollar has rallied against the yen for much of this year, hitting a four-year high of 99.94 on April 11. But the pair failed to break the psychologically important 100 mark as option traders defended the level and as worries about the U.S. economy pressured the dollar. "There just seems to be a lot of resistance on the way up to 100," said John Doyle, currency strategist at Tempus Consulting in Washington. "We still think the dollar is going to 100 versus the yen. It's just a matter of when." Trading volume was thin due to holidays in Britain and Japan, traders said. The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 99.35 yen, having earlier hit 99.45 yen, according to Reuters data, its strongest since April 25. The euro was little changed at 129.87 yen, having risen to 130.40 yen, a two-week high. Expectations the Bank of Japan will continue to flood the economy with liquidity will continue to pressure the yen in the coming months, analysts said. In contrast, the solid April jobs figure and upward revisions to prior months have revived talk the U.S. Federal Reserve may start to reduce asset purchases under its quantitative easing program later this year. "In general, we have seen a rebound in risk appetite following the above consensus readings on U.S. labor market data last Friday," said Samarjit Shankar, managing director of global FX strategy at BNY Mellon in Boston. Rising risk appetite tends to pressure the yen as investors sell the lower-yielding Japanese currency to buy assets with greater returns. Against the dollar, the euro slipped 0.3 percent to $1.3070 , retracing from a two-month high of $1.3242 set last Wednesday. It hit a session low of $1.3052 after ECB's Draghi's comments. Adding to the euro's bearish tone, surveys showed the euro zone's business downturn dragged on in April and Germany is now suffering a contraction in business activity that has long dogged France, Italy and Spain. The ECB cut interest rates last week and Draghi hinted at the possibility of negative deposit rates. This would penalize banks for hoarding cash and could drive money out of the euro zone. "The risks are now tilted to the downside for euro/dollar and it could test $1.30," said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, head of FX research at Danske Bank in Copenhagen. Against a basket of currencies the dollar was up 0.3 percent at 82.343. The Australian dollar fell 0.7 percent to $1.0247, hurt by a surprise drop in retail sales and slower Chinese services activity. The Reserve Bank of Australia meets on Tuesday. Markets imply a 50-50 chance of a rate cut, but a Reuters poll showed most economists see rates steady at 3.0 percent. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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