Dollar up in Asia on US jobs data, Ukraine deal

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TOKYO, Japan—The dollar rose in quiet Asian trade Friday, winning support from positive US jobs data and a deal between Russia and the West aimed at easing tensions in Ukraine.

The greenback fetched 102.48 yen in Tokyo, up from 102.39 yen in New York Thursday while the euro drifted lower against the dollar to $1.3811 from $1.3813.

The European single currency rose to 141.54 yen from 141.45 yen in US trade.

But the dollar’s rise against the yen could prove short- lived, dealers said.

“We don’t feel any sign that aggressive yen selling is set to start amid falling volatility,” said Osamu Takashima, chief forex strategist at Citibank Japan.

New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits edged higher last week but still remained close to a seven-year low, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial claims, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, have been slowly trending lower as the world’s number one economy recovers from recession.

A deal struck in talks in Geneva between the US, European Union, Ukraine and Russia to ease the crisis took some of the short-term worries out of the market, where traders in many forex centres including London and New York were to start the Easter weekend holiday on Friday.

The parties in the Geneva talks agreed to restore security in eastern Ukraine, where forces from Kiev had moved to oust armed pro-Russia separatists from government buildings they had occupied.

— Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report —

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