US dollar trade near five-year high against yen

US Currency. AP FILE PHOTO

SINGAPORE— The US dollar traded near a five-year high against the yen in thin Asian trade Thursday as investors began the new year with renewed optimism about the US economy.

The greenback eased to 105.28 yen from 105.33 yen in New York on Tuesday, after touching 105.41 on Monday — its strongest since October 2008.

The euro edged up to $1.3764 from $1.3753 and to 144.92 yen from 144.89 yen.

Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said the dollar gained support from “upbeat US economic reports”, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street on Tuesday.

The US Conference Board on Tuesday released data showing consumers in the world’s top economy turned sharply confident about the economy and job market in December.

Its consumer confidence index rose to 78.1 from an upwardly revised 72.0 in November.

The October index plunged to 72.4 during a 16-day government shutdown, from a level of 80.2 in September.

The survey came after the government reported in early December that the US unemployment rate had dropped to a five-year low of 7.0 percent last month while jobs growth accelerated.

The S&P Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index also released Tuesday showed a gain of 13.6 percent year-over-year, the largest annual increase since February 2006, although smaller than the 13.8 percent rise expected by analysts.

Chua said Asian trade was subdued Thursday owing to the closure of Japanese markets for a public holiday.

“Trading activity will pick up in European hours and the rest of the day with a slew of (manufacturing) reports to jumpstart 2014,” he said.