Yen firms amid intervention chatter, Aussie rises on RBA decision
By Ankur Banerjee and Harry Robertson
SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) — The dollar fell slightly against the yen on Tuesday as markets remained on high alert for signs of Japanese intervention, while the Australian dollar gained after the country's central bank held interest rates steady.
The greenback was down 0.19% by 0833 GMT to 144.45 yen, after rising 0.27% on Monday.
However, the yen remained close to last week's almost eight-month low of 145.07 per dollar, which prompted Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to warn against excessive yen selling.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held interest rates steady at 4.10% on Tuesday, saying it wanted more time to assess the impact of past hikes, but warned further tightening might be needed to bring inflation to heel.
The Australian dollar bounced around, but was up 0.13% at 0833 GMT to $0.668.
Markets had leant towards the central bank holding rates steady after inflation eased a little more than expected in May. Economists however were split, with 16 out of 31 polled by Reuters expecting a hike and the rest forecasting the bank would maintain current rates.
Market activity was relatively subdued on Tuesday with U.S. trade closed for the July 4 public holiday. Investors were also waiting for the closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls employment report due on Friday, which is likely to influence the Federal Reserve's next decision.
The euro was down 0.13% against the dollar at $1.09, while sterling was roughly flat at $1.269.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was also little changed at 103.
«It feels like every week will bring something and this week we're waiting for the U.S. non-farm payrolls,» said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX
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