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SINGAPORE - The dollar stumbled in Asian trade Wednesday as investors sought to limit their exposure before the year-end holidays, analysts said.
The greenback traded at 91.622 yen, down from 91.82 yen in late US trade Tuesday. Markets in Japan are closed for a public holiday and will re-open Thursday.
The euro changed hands at 1.4267 dollars, up from 1.4218 and rose to 130.7208 yen from 130.55.
"There is some correction in the value of the dollar," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with SJS Markets financial advisory firm in Hong Kong.
"I would expect there is very little upside, if any, left in the US currency as investors continue to unwind (from their positions)," he said.
Expectations that the US Federal Reserve is not going to raise interest rates in the near future is also dampening appetite for the dollar, analysts said.
The dollar has been hurt by carry trades in which the greenback is borrowed at ultralow rates for investment in higher-yielding assets.
"So much has been spoken about further US dollar weakness, and how the greenback will weaken when risk appetite returns," analysts from Singapore's United Overseas Bank said.
"However, it is important to note that once the market is convinced about prospects of rate hike in the US, we could see rather sharp pullback in US dollar weakness especially given that many have used the US dollar as a funding currency in this latest round of carry-trade."
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