TOKYO: The dollar rose to a three-and-a-half-year high against the yen in Asia on Friday as dealers grew confident of encouraging results from key US jobs data due later in the global day. The greenback climbed to 95.42 yen in Tokyo — its strongest since August 2009 — from 94.83 yen in New York late Thursday, while the euro dipped to $1.3095 in Tokyo morning trade against $1.3107.
The single currency was also buying 124.92 yen, compared with 124.28 yen.
A senior dealer at a major European bank said the focus was on US payroll and jobless figures due later.
“Strong readings will push (the dollar) higher,” he said.
The US government said Thursday that new claims for US unemployment benefits fell last week to 340,000, boosting confidence that Friday’s much-watched US jobless data would be strong, analysts say.
That came a day after data from payrolls firm ADP showed the private sector piled on 198,000 jobs last month, better than the average of the past six months.
