By Hiroyuki Kachi
The dollar was almost flat against the yen and the euro in
directionless Asian trade Friday ahead of Sunday's Greek
referendum, while the Australian dollar weakened on a steep falloff
in Shanghai stocks.
Against the yen, the dollar was at Y123.10 at around 0450 GMT,
compared with Y123.05 late Thursday in New York.
The U.S. currency, however, weakened slightly against the euro,
with the common currency inching up to $1.1092 from $1.1086
overnight. The bloc's single currency was also slightly higher
against the yen at Y136.52 from Y136.42.
"After (the U.S.) labor data release, investors are just
waiting" for the result of the referendum due out during early
Tokyo time on Monday, said Ayako Sera, head of research team at
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
The greenback was tracking its weak tone overnight as uneven
gains in the U.S. labor market depicted in June data clouded
investors view for the Federal Reserve's likely move to raise
short-term rates.
The dollar fell to briefly touch a low of Y122.81 earlier in the
Asia session in keeping with weakness in the Nikkei Stock Average.
But the U.S. currency recouped earlier losses, as many avoided
taking strong positions due to the U.S. holiday Friday and ahead of
Sunday's Greek referendum on eurozone bailout conditions.
"Muddled implications from the U.S. labor data, ahead of Greek
referendum and the absence of U.S. traders is making trading
rangebound," said IG Securities market analyst Junichi
Ishikawa.
Days before the referendum, which is likely to shape the
nation's future in the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund
warned Thursday that Greece would need comprehensive debt relief
and more than 60 billion euros ($66.6 billion) in new aid to return
to financial health.
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to convince voters
he could quickly secure a better deal with creditors if his nation
rebuffed their previous demands in Sunday's referendum, in an
effort to sway Greeks who fear a "no" vote would instead mean exit
from the euro.
In a television interview broadcast late Thursday, Mr. Tsipras
stepped up his call for Greeks to reject lenders' terms in the
referendum and said the country would have a bailout deal within 48
hours after the vote if they did.
"If 'no' wins, I can assure you that the next day I will be in
Brussels and there will be a deal," he said.
Among other currency trading pairs, the Australian dollar
weakened to as low as $0.7567 and Y93.17, respectively, from
$0.7636 and Y93.91 overnight.
The Australian currency, nicknamed the Aussie, was under selling
pressure on weaker than expected retail sales in Australia and a
falloff in the China HSBC services PMI.
Australian retail sales were up 0.3% in May, more moderate than
a 0.6% growth economics had been forecasting; China's June HSBC PMI
was at 51.8 in June from 53.5 in May.
The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket
of major currencies, was up 0.04% at 87.08.
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT
Latest Previous %Chg Daily Daily %Chg
Dollar Rates Close High Low 12/31
USD/JPY Japan 123.09-10 123.06-07 +0.03 123.14 122.81 +2.81
EUR/USD Euro 1.1092-95 1.1084-87 +0.07 1.1100 1.1082 -8.31
GBP/USD U.K. 1.5604-06 1.5608-10 -0.03 1.5624 1.5603 +0.17
USD/CHF Switzerland 0.9425-29 0.9433-37 -0.08 0.9440 0.9423 -5.19
USD/CAD Canada 1.2556-61 1.2536-41 +0.16 1.2566 1.2539 +8.06
AUD/USD Australia 0.7587-91 0.7631-35 -0.58 0.7649 0.7568 -7.12
NZD/USD New Zealand 0.6717-23 0.6719-25 -0.03 0.6732 0.6704 -13.79
Euro Rate
EUR/JPY Japan 136.52-56 136.38-42 +0.10 136.62 136.23 -5.80
Source: ICAP PLC
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com