Dollar, euro rangebound ahead of Fed speeches

TOKYO: The dollar and the euro traded in tight ranges in Tokyo Thursday as investors awaited comments by senior US Federal Reserve officials later in the day, analysts said.

The dollar changed hands at 76.83 yen in Tokyo, barely changed from 76.82 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The euro was at $1.3763 and 105.74 yen in Tokyo, up from $1.3755 and 105.65 in New York.

The latest data from the United States failed to give investors a clear lead, with traders instead looking to speeches later Friday by Fed officials, said Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

The Federal Reserve Bank's "Beige Book" showed Wednesday a "modest" pick-up in the economy in September, with restrained hiring and a still-weak housing market.

But separate data showed housing construction surged by 15 percent in September to the highest level in 17 months.

"Sentiment is not that pessimistic nor is it that strong," Kamei told Dow Jones Newswires.

"So the expectations toward monetary policy are also mixed," which was helping keep the dollar-yen rate in a narrow range, she added.

The euro-dollar rate was also locked in a narrow band as investors awaited further developments in Europe to resolve its debt crisis, she said.

"What we know about the EFSF (the European Financial Stability Facility) expansion discussions is that we don't know anything for sure yet at this point," she said.

That has kept many investors from making major bets, Kamei said. (AFP)