Tokyo - The dollar picked up on Thursday after tumbling on weak US jobs data and a warning from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that stock markets were at risk of overheating.
In Tokyo midday trading, the greenback fetched 119.55 yen, up from 119.44 yen in New York.
The euro was mixed at $1.1342 and 135.60 yen, compared with $1.1348 and 135.54 yen in US trade, as traders keep a close eye on tense Greek bailout talks.
Fresh US data was relatively weak. Non-farm productivity fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter year-on-year. It was the second straight quarterly fall.
Payroll firm ADP meanwhile reported the US added just 169 000 private-sector jobs in April, the second month in a row under 200 000, as the oil sector downturn continued to pinch the labour market.
The figures came ahead of Friday's highly-anticipated Labour Department jobs report. A weak reading may further cloud the timing for a widely-expected Fed interest rate hike this year.
“Some hopes that the jobs market remained healthy were dashed by the private employment report and that hit those with long dollar positions,” said Keisuke Hino, a foreign-exchange trader at Mizuho Bank in New York.
“At the same time, rising yields may boost appetite for the dollar for Japanese as they return from holidays,” he told Bloomberg News.
Japanese financial markets were closed from Monday to Wednesday for public holidays.
In the US, Fed chair Janet Yellen, speaking at a Washington conference, warned that “equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high”.
“There are potential dangers there,” she said, but added there was no rapid credit growth and “no signs of a financial bubble”.
“I believe we are better positioned now” to see risks, Yellen added.
In other trading, the pound fetched $1.5237, slightly down from $1.5247 in US trade, as Britain goes to the polls on Thursday in the closest general election in a generation.
The election looks set to deliver a minority government for the first time since 1974 but could also push Britain closer to leaving the European Union and hasten Scottish independence.
“Elections garner lots of interest in markets with speculation over possible partnerships, and policy; but rarely do they have a lasting effect on markets,” National Australia Bank said in a note.
“This one may be different given the inherent uncertainties involved. The polls are neck and neck and the possible partners an interesting mix. Even if the status quo gets up, there may be a referendum on the UK remaining part of the EU... All of this is fodder for market uncertainty and risk aversion.”
Traders were also keeping a close eye the tense situation in cash-strapped Greece, after the European Union and International Monetary Fund hit back on Wednesday at accusations by Athens that internal rifts were blocking a bailout deal.
AFP