Dollar slips after G-20 disappoints

The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 76.96, -0.51, -0.66%) , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of six major global currencies, was at 76.951, down from 77.469 in late North American trading on Friday.
The G-20’s joint communiqué Saturday said that a global economic recovery is underway but uneven, and warned of the need to move toward more “market-determined” currency exchange rates. See full story on G-20 meeting.
“The communiqué ... is likely to help sustain the trend of recent months for dollar weakness against currencies with strong external positions,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, Hong Kong-based senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole, in a note to clients Monday.

U.S. Week Ahead: Blue chips, midterms

Earnings from top companies such as Microsoft, DuPont, Exxon and Merck will be in the spotlight next week, helping close out October on the way toward the upcoming midterm elections. Rex Crum reports.

Indeed, many Japanese companies are said to be preparing for further dollar downside.
Daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday that Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203 2,926, +26.00, +0.90%)   /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 71.70, +0.08, +0.11%) revised its forecast for the dollar for this fiscal year to ¥80 from ¥90, and will take about a ¥150 billion hit to its earnings.
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502 409.00, +1.00, +0.25%)   /quotes/comstock/11i!tosbf (TOSBF 5.07, +0.04, +0.80%)  will build management systems that can withstand the dollar trading at ¥70, Toshiba President Norio Sasaki reportedly said at a forum in Tokyo Monday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar /quotes/comstock/21o!x:susdjpy (USDYEN 81.0000, -0.4400, -0.5403%)  was buying ¥80.87 by midday Monday in Asia, down from ¥81.43 late Friday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
While the strong yen has taken a toll on Japanese companies and the overall economy, exports are holding up better than some of the more pessimistic expectations had predicted. Data released Monday by the Ministry of Finance showed the country’s trade surplus rose 54.0% to 797.0 billion yen ($9.8 billion) in September from a year earlier, beating expectations, as exports rose more than economists had forecast.
Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had foreseen a ¥712.0 billion surplus. Exports were up 14.4% to ¥5.843 trillion, more than the median forecast for a 7.9% rise predicted by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll. Still, the pace of the increase slowed from August’s 15.5% rise.
The euro /quotes/comstock/21o!x:seurusd (EURUSD 1.4028, +0.0074, +0.5303%)  bought $1.4037 Monday, up from $1.3934 late Friday, and the British pound /quotes/comstock/21o!x:sgbpusd (GBPUSD 1.5760, +0.0094, +0.6000%)  rose to $1.5749 from $1.5675.
Later Monday, data are expected to show U.S. existing-home sales rose 6.3% to 4.39 million in September, after rising 7.7% in the prior month.