JIJI
The dollar weakened to around ¥109.40 in lackluster Tokyo trading Monday.
At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.40-40, down from ¥109.62-62 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1145-1145, down from $1.1167-1167, and at ¥121.93-93, down from ¥122.43-44.
After firming to top ¥109.40 in the earning morning, the dollar eased back and became almost static.
"Dollar-positive sentiment was certainly improved by the announcement of the 'phase one' trade deal between the United States and China and the British conservatives' general election victory to ensure Brexit," said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm.
But players refrained from actively buying the dollar against the yen as they were puzzled by different explanations by Washington and Beijing about an agreement on China's purchase of U.S. farm goods in the preliminary deal, an asset manager said.
The dollar-yen pair will go sideways for the rest of this week, a major bank official forecast, noting that the Bank of Japan is highly likely to keep its extremely loose monetary policy unchanged at a two-day Policy Board meeting that starts Wednesday.
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