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Nation

RP 5 enters Asia Olympic qualifying tiff

- Joey Villar, Nelson Beltran -

TOKYO (AFP) - The dollar was slightly weaker against other major currencies in Asian trade Monday following Friday's worse-than-expected report on US home sales, dealers said.

They said, however, that trading was subdued with many players sitting on their hands due to the Memorial Day holiday in the United States.

The dollar stood at 121.67 yen in Tokyo morning trade, down slightly from 121.74 yen in New York late on Friday.

The euro was higher at 1.3449 dollars after 1.3438 dollars and at 163.66 yen from 163.64 yen.

The dollar extended losses against the euro in the wake of an industry report released Friday that showed US home sales fell to their lowest level in almost four years last month.

The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales dropped 2.6 percent to an annualized pace of 5.99 million in April, a second straight monthly decline and the lowest level since June 2003.

But dealers noted that the dollar had remained relatively resilient in the face of the soft data, gaining on the yen in overseas trade on Friday.

The dollar later faced selling pressure from Japanese companies as it approached the upper 121-yen level, said Seiichi Kanazawa, dealer at Resona Bank.

"Others are also selling the dollar for profit taking," he said.

Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui was due deliver a speech in Tokyo but dealers were not expecting any major surprises.

"Unless he says something new and something that clearly indicates when the central bank would raise interest rates, the speech is not likely going to move the market," Kanazawa said.

Fukui has stated his desire to raise rates from 0.5 percent amid concerns that very loose monetary policy could store up trouble for the future but falling consumer prices have made it harder to justify another hike yet.

The market was also bracing for a raft of US economic data this week, including revised first-quarter growth on Thursday and Friday's key jobs data.

BANK OF JAPAN

DOLLAR

FUKUI

MEMORIAL DAY

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

NEW YORK

RESONA BANK

SEIICHI KANAZAWA

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

TOSHIHIKO FUKUI

UNITED STATES

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