Dollar Almost Flat Ahead of Greek Referendum

 
   By Hiroyuki Kachi 
 

        The dollar was almost flat against the yen and the euro in directionless Asian trade Friday ahead of Sunday's Greek referendum, while the Australian dollar weakened on a steep falloff in Shanghai stocks.
        Against the yen, the dollar was at Y123.10 at around 0450 GMT, compared with Y123.05 late Thursday in New York.
        The U.S. currency, however, weakened slightly against the euro, with the common currency inching up to $1.1092 from $1.1086 overnight. The bloc's single currency was also slightly higher against the yen at Y136.52 from Y136.42.
        "After (the U.S.) labor data release, investors are just waiting" for the result of the referendum due out during early Tokyo time on Monday, said Ayako Sera, head of research team at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
        The greenback was tracking its weak tone overnight as uneven gains in the U.S. labor market depicted in June data clouded investors view for the Federal Reserve's likely move to raise short-term rates.
        The dollar fell to briefly touch a low of Y122.81 earlier in the Asia session in keeping with weakness in the Nikkei Stock Average. But the U.S. currency recouped earlier losses, as many avoided taking strong positions due to the U.S. holiday Friday and ahead of Sunday's Greek referendum on eurozone bailout conditions.
        "Muddled implications from the U.S. labor data, ahead of Greek referendum and the absence of U.S. traders is making trading rangebound," said IG Securities market analyst Junichi Ishikawa.
        Days before the referendum, which is likely to shape the nation's future in the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Greece would need comprehensive debt relief and more than 60 billion euros ($66.6 billion) in new aid to return to financial health.
        Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to convince voters he could quickly secure a better deal with creditors if his nation rebuffed their previous demands in Sunday's referendum, in an effort to sway Greeks who fear a "no" vote would instead mean exit from the euro.
        In a television interview broadcast late Thursday, Mr. Tsipras stepped up his call for Greeks to reject lenders' terms in the referendum and said the country would have a bailout deal within 48 hours after the vote if they did.
        "If 'no' wins, I can assure you that the next day I will be in Brussels and there will be a deal," he said.
        Among other currency trading pairs, the Australian dollar weakened to as low as $0.7567 and Y93.17, respectively, from $0.7636 and Y93.91 overnight.
        The Australian currency, nicknamed the Aussie, was under selling pressure on weaker than expected retail sales in Australia and a falloff in the China HSBC services PMI.
        Australian retail sales were up 0.3% in May, more moderate than a 0.6% growth economics had been forecasting; China's June HSBC PMI was at 51.8 in June from 53.5 in May.
        The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.04% at 87.08.
        Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 03, 2015 01:42 ET (05:42 GMT)

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