Tokyo - The dollar fell against the yen on Wednesday as retreating Tokyo stocks drove safe-haven bids for the yen, while bargain hunting helped the battered pound crawl away from its one-month low.
The greenback also sagged against the euro and Australian dollar after downbeat productivity data sapped some of the momentum it had gained from last week's robust US jobs report.
The dollar was down 0.6 percent at 101.325 yen, having gone as high as 102.660 on Monday on the strong nonfarm payrolls data.
The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.1148, touching a 5-day high of $1.1149.
Sterling was up 0.4 percent at $1.3060, recovering from the $1.2956 hit on Tuesday, its lowest level since July 11.
The pound took a knock on Tuesday after Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty said more monetary easing was likely to be needed if the UK's economic decline worsened.
“The pound was oversold and it benefited from some market correction, with the bounce also benefiting other currencies against the dollar. The market is thin at the moment and each move tends to be exaggerated,” said Junichi Ishikawa, forex analyst at IG Securities in Tokyo.
Trading volumes are expected to be relatively light this week with many traders and investors on a summer break.
Sterling may have rebounded but the British currency was expected to continue struggling in the longer term.
“Every PMI (purchasing managers' index) report will be amplified in its importance as traders will essentially view it as proxy for BoE policy moves,” wrote Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management.
“If the PMI reports show further deterioration in a post-Brexit environment, then Mr Mccafferty's warnings will be taken at face value and currency markets will sell cable (sterling/dollar) towards its post-Brexit lows as the month proceeds.”
The dollar index was down 0.4 percent at 95.799.
“The weaker-than-expected US productivity data weighed on the dollar broadly. The market usually does not give the data much heed, but it drew attention as it marked the third straight quarter of decline,” said Shin Kadota, chief Japan FX strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.
The US Labour Department said on Tuesday that productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, dropped at a 0.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period, extending the longest decline since 1979.
The Australian dollar advanced to a three-month peak of $0.7703, buoyed this week by Australia's relatively high yields and investor appetite for risk.
REUTERS