Dollar stuck near lows, last month-end flows eyed

The dollar was pinned at the week's lows against the yen on Thursday, with eyes on month-end flows for any selling pressure that might push it down further into possible danger zones for Japanese intervention.
The dollar, hobbled by speculation of more quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve, struggled near a five-month low on the euro and an eight-month low on a basket of currencies.
Dealers and analysts were watching for last-minute dollar sales by Japanese exporters on the last day of the fiscal half-year, with some talk too of whether passive money managers may have to rebalance at the month-end by selling dollars.
But with such flows hard to predict, the dollar remained supported by nervousness that Japanese authorities might swoop in as they did on September 15, when the Bank of Japan carried out yen-selling intervention for the first time in six years.
The dollar slid 0.2% to 83.59 yen and is down 0.7% down on the month but still above a 15-year low of 82.87 yen set just before Japan intervened two weeks ago.
Traders said intervention wariness would rise if the dollar fell below 83.00.
The real risk of the yen rising may come further down the line if the euro's rally against the dollar were to reverse, perhaps after a climb to $1.37 or $1.38, he said. The euro was at $1.3597 on Thursday.
But gauging the intervention trigger point was tricky and some said it might be hard for Japan to intervene at current levels as the latest moves came from dollar weakness rather than yen strength.
The market is also waiting to see if the BOJ takes further easing steps to support the economy and counter the impact of the rising yen at its policy meeting next week.