TOKYO, Nov 26: The dollar eased here on Monday after gaining ground against the yen on the downgrade in Japan’s sovereign rating by a credit evaluator, but it was expected to maintain its upward momentum, dealers said.

The greenback stood at 124.05-08 yen at 5:00 pm (0800 GMT) after peaking at 124.47 yen, compared with 124.30 yen in New York and 124.00 yen in Singapore late Friday.

“After finding its topside very heavy at 124.50 yen, the dollar kept slipping back as players had nowhere else to go,” said Toyo Trust and Banking customer dealer Issaku Taguchi. “But its momentum remains upward.”

The dollar rose on news global ratings agency Fitch cut Japan’s local and foreign currency debt ratings early Monday to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-plus’ due to mounting public debt and a crippling price slide in the world’s number two economy.

But after the spike up, the greenback retreated due to selling by Japanese exporters, dealers said. It touched 124.04 yen at one point late in late trading.

Chase Manhattan Tokyo branch foreign exchange analyst Minori Takeuchi said there was also a technical correction in early trading after the dollar’s sharp gains at the end of last week.

“The market’s becoming more bullish on the dollar and part of the reason is the 124.34 yen resistance was broken over the long weekend,” Takeuchi said.

“The dollar/yen could go to 125.30 but (for now) it looks a little over-bought.”

The euro bought 0.8799-02 dollars at 5:00 pm, against 0.8781 dollars in New York and 0.8780 dollars in Singapore late Friday.

Against the yen, the euro was quoted at 109.19, as opposed to 109.20 yen in New York and 108.90 in Singapore Friday afternoon.

In late Singapore trade, the dollar slipped to 10,375.00 Indonesian rupiah from 10,537.50 the previous day, 51.88 Philippine pesos from 52.00 and 1.8317 Singapore dollars from 1.8371.

The greenback was also weaker at 1,262.25 South Korean won from 1,271.35, 34.4750 Taiwan dollars from 34.479 and 44.165 Thai baht from 44.33.—AFP