By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The dollar gained Monday, taking its cues from weak Asian equities in the wake of U.S. stock losses last week, and getting help against the euro from fears about Greece’s sovereign-debt woes.
The euro EURUSD +0.15% slipped to $1.4343 from $1.4354 in late North American trading on Friday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
Earlier, the European unit briefly traded even lower, as stop-loss orders — placed by investors at certain levels to limit losses — were triggered in thin market conditions, accelerating the currency’s slide.
“An early stop run took [the euro] from $1.4350 to $1.4285. Blink, and you might have missed it,” said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
“The sell-off was driven by illiquid conditions and follow-through from Friday, where sentiment had soured amid a cacophony of conflicting comments regarding Greece,” she said in a note to clients Monday.
The dollar index DXY -0.06% , which measures the performance of the U.S. unit against a basket of six currencies, rose to 74.881, from 74.801 late Friday.
The greenback also benefitted from safe-haven appeal as Asian equities slipped in the wake of Friday‘s U.S. losses, as well as downbeat lending data from China. Read more about Asia Markets.
Against the yen, the dollar USDJPY +0.08% rose to ¥80.51, from ¥80.35 late Friday, getting a lift from disappointing Japanese economic data, showing an unexpected drop in core machinery orders, which are considered a leading indicator of corporate capital spending.
Orders slipped 0.2% in April from the previous year and 3.3% from March, while economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 1.2% rise from March. Read report on Japanese machinery-order data.
The British pound GBPUSD +0.10% fell to $1.6228, from $1.6242.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.19% bought $1.0542, down from $1.0570 Friday, in thin trading. Markets in Australia were closed for a holiday Monday.
Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief.
