TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar was little changed against other major currencies on Monday in holiday-thinned trading while the cost of swapping the yen for the dollar jumped as banks scrambled to raise dollars for the year-end period.
The dollar stood little changed at 113.30 yen JPY= in Asian trade on Monday, hardly gaining traction from upbeat U.S. economic data published on Friday.
U.S. consumer spending accelerated in November and shipments of key capital goods orders increased for the 10th straight month.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1 percent in November for an annual increase of 1.5 percent, accelerating from 1.4 percent in October.
The data helped to push the two-year U.S. yield to a nine-year high of 1.899 percent US2YT=RR and dollar interest rate futures FFF9 to price in more than two rate hikes next year for the first time.
“Because foreign banks are away and few market players are eager to offer dollars, the forward market is very thin,” said a currency trader at a major Japanese bank. “The market is very volatile and there are hardly any trades beyond one week,” he said.
On Monday, cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC=BTSP slipped 4.0 percent to $13,615 on Bitstamp exchange.
On Friday, it fell as to as low as $11,160 – 43 percent below its Dec. 17 record peak of $19,666 hit – before recovering.
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