September 22, 2009
SINGAPORE (AFP) - The dollar fell against the yen and euro in Asian trade Tuesday as investors awaited the conclusion of a key Federal Reserve meeting this week, analysts said.
The dollar was at 91.67 yen in Singapore morning trade, down from 91.99 yen in New York late Monday. Financial markets in Japan are closed for public holidays and will reopen Thursday.
The euro changed hands at 1.4714 dollars, up from 1.4676 dollars but weakened against the yen to 134.95 from 135.06.
"We had a bit of a revival in risk appetite today," said Emmanuel Ng, an analyst with Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
"Better risk appetite is going to improve interest in the majors at the expense of the dollar," he said.
Analysts from Singapore's DBS bank said the Federal Reserve was expected to keep key interest rates at existing levels of 0-0.25 percent when it concludes a two-day meeting Wednesday.
"The Fed will give a nod to the improving data but the key point they will continue to stress is that rates are likely to remain low for an extended period of time," DBS bank analysts said in a report.
Any change in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy stance is likely to occur only in the first-half of next year, they said.
"We continue to think the second quarter of 2010 looks about right," DBS said.
"Don’t forget, jobs are still being shed to the tune of 215,000 per month (as of August) and we reckon that statistic won’t turn positive until November/December."
