Dollar climbs against yen in Asia ahead of Japan GDP data

The dollar climbed against the yen in Asian trading Wednesday in light trading ahead of the release of Japanese gross domestic product data.

Photo: Dollar climbs against yen in Asia ahead of Japan GDP data

The dollar was trading at 121.28 yen at 2:50 p.m. (0550 GMT) Wednesday, up from 121.18 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro edged up to US$1.3034, from US$1.3033.

Many short-term players avoided trading actively, waiting for clues from Thursday release of Japan's fourth-quarter GDP data, which will be the last major factor for the market to gauge the chances of the Bank of Japan raising interest rates at its policy-board meeting next week.

"The short-term direction (of the yen) is hard to judge now," said Kazuhiro Kaneko, a senior trader at Mizuho Trust and Banking. "I wouldn't build new positions at this moment."

Dealers said they are awaiting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the U.S. Senate later Wednesday for his outlook on the U.S. economy. Traders said they expect the dollar to rise against the euro if he sounds hawkish and addresses increasing inflation risks.

The dollar was mostly lower against other Asian currencies, falling to 1.5390 Singapore dollars from 1.5428 and to 938.6 South Korean won from 939.6. It rose to 44.172 Indian rupees from 44.030.