Dollar around ¥109.50 in late Tokyo trading

The dollar was easier around ¥109.50 in late Tokyo trading Tuesday after trimming losses in the afternoon.

At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.48, down from ¥109.72 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.2241, up from $1.2190, and at ¥134.02, up from ¥133.75.

After trading around ¥109.50 in the early morning, the dollar dropped to around ¥109.30, pressured by Japanese exporters’ selling and the 225-issue Nikkei average’s downturn.

But the U.S. currency cut its losses thanks to buybacks stemming from a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates in off-hours trading. It also got support from the Nikkei average’s resilience.

The greenback recovered to around ¥109.50 in the afternoon, as market players sold the Australia dollar for the U.S. currency following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to keep its key policy rate at a record low.

The greenback grew static in late trading as the euro and other European currencies firmed.

A wait-and-see mood grew ahead of market-moving events later on Tuesday, including the Institute for Supply Management’s release of U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for May and a speech by Lael Brainard, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

With the closely watched U.S. Labor Department’s employment report for May due out Friday, “There is no need to rush to make transactions,” said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service company.