Tokyo - The dollar hovered in a narrow range in Tokyo on Thursday, bookended by dip-buying and selling pressure after the US Federal Reserve kept its easing policy unchanged.
The greenback was at 101.93 yen in Tokyo, nearly flat from 101.91 yen in New York on Wednesday, after it had slipped against other major currencies.
The euro bought $1.3586 and 138.49 yen, compared with $1.3593 and 138.52 yen.
The dollar began sliding after the Federal Reserve Board decision, when it announced there would be no quickening of the time-frame for raising interest rates.
The bank also reiterated its policy of tapering stimulus while keeping monetary policy “highly accommodative”.
But the selling encouraged by that move was largely being cancelled out by Japanese importers buying the unit at an attractive level, said Shinji Kureda, head of FX trading group at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.
The dollar's overnight slippage came in part as the Fed's stance was seen as less hawkish than expected by some dollar bulls, he said.
The Federal Open Market Committee “didn't provide incentive to sell the dollar, thus limiting (the dollar/yen's) downside from here”, Kureda told Dow Jones Newswires.
Equity market strength also brightened investor spirit and encouraged the dollar buying, analysts said.
The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the morning session up 1.62 percent to 15,360.23.
The headline stock index's rise followed solid gains made on Wall Street, where the S&P 500, a broad measure of the US stock markets, jumped 14.99 points (0.77 percent) to 1,956.98, a new record close. - AFP