Dollar, euro flat amid quiet holiday trade

TOKYO – The dollar stayed nearly unchanged in lacklustre holiday trade Tuesday, as Asian investors waited for their Western counterparts to return from the Christmas holiday.

The forex market was quiet with the dollar standing at 77.96 yen, basically unchanged from 77.99 yen in Tokyo Monday, when players in New York and London were away.

The London Stock Exchange will remain closed on Tuesday.

The euro was also flat at $1.3057 and 101.82 yen, compared with $1.3059 and 101.88 yen in Tokyo.

Investors are awaiting the release later in the day of the Case-Shiller home price index in the United States to set the tone of New York shares, said a senior dealer at a major bank in Tokyo.

“Usually after the year-end holiday season, US shares rise,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

“If that is the case this year as well, then the euro will rise against the dollar and yen,” he said.