* Dollar edges up vs euro, barely changed vs yen
* U.S. jobs data not as bad as feared but still ugly
* Japan clocks record current account deficit in January
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - The dollar inched up slightly
against the euro and held steady on the yen on Monday, as a
record current account deficit in Japan, a gloomy economic
picture in the United States and technical dynamics pulled the
market in different directions.
Japan's stock market dipped to its lowest close in 26 years
and its current account posted a record deficit of 172.8 billion
yen ($1.76 billion) in January. []
But gloomy news from the United States, in the form of the
highest unemployment rate since 1983, left market participants
with little hunger for the U.S. currency either.
Traders said flows were light in Asian business, with the
main dollar-buying interest coming from foreign investors selling
Japanese equities and dollar-selling coming in part from Japanese
companies but also from proprietary trading desks.
"Technically the market is trying to look for upwards rather
than downwards on dollar/yen," a senior trader at a U.S. bank
said.
"But in reality the fundamentals of the (U.S.) economy are
saying down ... The non-farm payrolls numbers don't give you the
appetite to go to that level."
Data showed on Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate rose to
a 25-year high of 8.1 percent in February as employers cut
651,000 jobs -- better than many had feared but still
substantial. []
The euro slipped 0.2 percent to $1.2632 <EUR=> and 0.2
percent to 123.98 yen <EURJPY=R>.
The dollar was little changed at 98.18 yen <JPY=> after
dipping to the day's low of 97.90 yen on trading platform EBS
earlier. It has backed away from a four-month high of 99.69 set
last week.
The latest data shows currency speculators on the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange's International Monetary Market still held
net long positions in the yen, although such positions fell to
20,070 contracts in the week ending March 3, from 28,635 the
prior week. []
On the charts, the dollar has forged a steady uptrend against
the yen since hitting a 13-year low of 87.10 in January and many
in the market are targeting a move to 100 and 102 yen.
But its push higher has lost momentum and it has retreated
from a three-year high of 89.624 against a basket of six
currencies also set last week, to 88.518 on Monday.
CURRENT ACCOUNT
Japan's benchmark Nikkei average <> fell 1.2 percent to
hit a 26-year closing low, hurt in part by worries about the fate
of General Motors <GM.N> and after Hong Kong stocks slid as hopes
for further economic stimulus from China waned.
Japan's first current account deficit in 13 years came as the
global financial crisis dried up demand for Japanese exports and,
combined with a strong yen at the time, shrank the profits from
overseas investments, including subsidiaries of its major
manufacturers.
"The Japanese current account number was a big thing, turning
into a deficit and larger than expected," said Masafumi Yamamoto,
head of FX strategy for Japan at Royal Bank of Scotland.
"It must have a lasting impact but in the short term it was
priced in."
(Additional reporting by Charlotte Cooper; Editing by Chris
Gallagher)
