TOKYO: The dollar weakened in Asian trade Thursday with few trading cues as firms adjust their month-end forex positions, dealers said, while concerns about global growth hung over markets.
The greenback had dropped below the 101-yen level in early Tokyo trade as the Nikkei 225 plunged more than three percent -- yen trade and the benchmark stock index are closely interlinked as the value of the Japanese currency directly affects the competitiveness of the country's exporters.
But by midday, the dollar crept back to 101.07 yen against 101.13 yen in New York late Wednesday.
"No news are behind the move, just flows," a senior dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The correlation between movements in the Nikkei and the dollar/yen appear to be gradually weakening. I think support at the 100-yen level remains strong."
Japanese firms are major currency sellers and buyers as part of running their overseas operations with euro trade also affected by such deals on Thursday, dealers said.
The European single currency gained to $1.2960 from $1.2942 in US trade, while it strengthened against the Japanese unit to 131.01 yen from 130.87 yen.
