The dollar fell against the Japanese yen Tuesday, while the key index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained moderately, the first advance in three trading days. The dollar closed at 152.40 yen, down 0.85 yen from Monday's close of 153.25 yen. After opening at 153.36 yen, the dollar ranged between 152.30 yen and 153.36 yen. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues rose 173.25 points to close at 31,938.30 points. Tuesday's advance followed a 248.67-point decline on Monday and a 47.88 point-slip last Friday. In the bond market, the price of the benchmark No. 119 10-year Japanese government bonds inched down to 87.34 points as of 3 p.m. (2:00 a.m. EDT), down from Monday's close of 87.39. The yield stood at 7.095 percent, up from the previous day's 7.085 percent. Currency dealers said the dollar opened slightly higher following its overnight upswing in New York, where it finished at 153.73 yen, up from 153 yen Friday. ``The dollar weakened as it was affected by cross-trading'' between the yen and the West German mark, said Kozo Yoshida, a dealer with Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank. Yoshida said otherwise there was no major market-affecting news. The yen's rebound triggered an upswing in stocks, dealers said. ``Share prices as a whole dropped in early trading on index-related selling, but the yen's recovery against the dollar encouraged many investors,'' said Yu Yoshida, a stock analyst with Yamaichi Securities. In the bond market, the price of the benchmark No. 119 10-year Japanese government bond edged higher to 87.33 from Monday's close of 87.09. That lowered the yield to 7.10 percent from 7.15 percent.
