TOKYO, July 18 — The dollar edged up in Asian trade today after tumbling in New York on news that a Malaysia Airlines jet had crashed in Ukraine killing almost 300 people, with the US saying it had been shot down.
The Malaysian ringgit slipped against the greenback in response to the tragedy, the second to hit the troubled carrier since the loss of flight MH370 in March.
In Tokyo midday trading, the dollar bought 101.32 yen, up from 101.17 yen in New York but well down from Tokyo levels around 101.50 yen yesterday.
The dollar was also buying 3.196 ringgit, up from 3.175 ringgit a day earlier.
The euro bought US$1.3527, against US$1.3525 in US trade, while it rose to 137.05 yen from 136.83 yen — but still off 137.29 yen yesterday in Asia.
Traders tend to flock to the yen in times of uncertainty, but the currency’s brief uptick following the crash was short lived.
“It’s hard to expect the (dollar-yen) pair will break below 101, once things calm down,” Toshiyuki Umekawa, senior president of Mizuho Bank’s forex division, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Flight MH17 had been carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in strife-torn eastern Ukraine, with US officials saying it was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
Kiev said the jet was shot down in a “terrorist act”, while comments attributed to a pro-Russian rebel chief suggested his men may have downed it by mistake, believing it was a Ukrainian army transport plane.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine bore responsibility for the crash, which came as Ukrainian forces battle pro-Moscow insurgents in the east of the country.
Adding to the selling pressure was news that Israel had launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on the tenth day of an offensive to stamp out rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave, which has claimed 248 lives.
The news fuelled concerns that the conflict could escalate in the powder-keg region. — AFP
