Dollar Higher Versus Yen in Asia

TOKYO -

The dollar rose versus the yen as Japanese importers and investment trusts bought the U.S. currency.

The dollar rose to 109.33 yen midafternoon in Tokyo, up from 109.03 yen late Monday in New York. The euro rose to US$1.4702 from US$1.4696.

The main drivers Tuesday were Japanese importers, who had been absent from the market during Japan's long year-end holiday. Japanese trust funds also bought dollars to invest in foreign assets.

But players said the greenback may not gain much more in the near term. The weak U.S. economic outlook and the possibility of further rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve are likely to weigh on the dollar for now, analysts said.

"Given worsening business sentiment and investors' growing risk aversion, the flow of ... the U.S. dollar against a falling yen is unlikely to last long," said Tohru Sasaki, JPMorgan Chase Bank's chief foreign-exchange strategist.

Later in the day, players will look at U.S. pending home sales for November to assess the state of the housing market. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect the data to show a 0.8 percent decline.

Against other Asian currencies, the dollar was mixed. The dollar rose 0.10 percent against the Indonesian rupiah to 9,450 and fell 0.29 percent versus the Philippine peso to 40.815.