Dollar extends gains in Asian trade

AFP FILE PHOTO

TOKYO – The dollar strengthened against the yen in Asia after a senior US Federal Reserve official said a winding down of the bank’s massive asset purchases could start within months.

In morning Tokyo trade, the greenback fetched 99.30 yen from 99.11 yen in New York on Friday.

Fed board member Jeremy Stein suggested in a speech in New York on Friday that the central bank could make a decision to begin slowing its stimulus programme within three months.

Stein, a member of the Fed’s policy committee, cited September as a possible start time for a wind down, saying accumulated economic data for the past year, and not just the most recent figures, would be taken into account.

The dollar is expected to benefit when the Fed eventually begins to reel in the programme, which it says will happen when the economy is able to stand on its own feet.

Comments from other Fed officials last week pointed to a longer timeframe. The easy monetary policy has been credited with boosting global equity markets.

Also in focus is the Bank of Japan’s quarterly business confidence survey, which showed sentiment jumped in the quarter to June, sitting in positive territory for the first time since September 2011.

The result comes days after figures showed Japanese factories put in an unexpectedly strong performance in May, supplying fresh evidence that Tokyo’s huge drive to boost growth appeared to be taking hold.

The euro rose to 129.28 yen from 128.99 in New York, while it was also at $1.3019, up from $1.3013.