The dollar lost slight ground in Asian trading on Friday, led mostly by a gain in the EUR/USD with the pair rising from 1.3975 to highs of 1.4062, purportedly on Asian sovereign demand. But, despite the gains, the EUR/USD, and most major currency pairs, remains in the same range that has held for the last two weeks or more with EUR/USD price action still mostly caught between 1.3800 to 1.4000. Cable rose from 1.6375 to highs of 1.6444 on the EUR move before a pullback to opening levels but remains in a choppy 1.6200-1.6600 range. USD/JPY dipped to 95.62 in morning trading on hybrid bond desk sales in response to lower U.S. bond yields but bounced back as high as 96.01 on Toshin fund demand. Asian stock markets were mixed with most underpinned by the gains in the DJIA Thursday and with the financial stocks higher. Commodities including gold and oil remained bid after strong gains in NY on Thursday. U.S. Treasury yields held lower levels after a decline Thursday on the jobless claims data and auctions results.
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