The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, edged down 0.2 percent to 95.190 after gaining 0.8 percent last week.
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Overseas shipments dropped 10% while imports declined 23%.
Japanese stocks rose to a near one-month high on Wednesday as exporters received a boost from a stronger dollar following firm United States housing data, while Sony Corp soared after releasing earnings.
On Monday, the dollar weakened to 109.84 yen from 110.15 yen Friday in NY.
Emboldening dollar bulls, recent comments from Federal Reserve officials, as well as minutes of the Fed’s April meeting, have convinced many analysts and investors that a rate hike in June or July is a real possibility.
“Markets remain fragile as talk of a U.S. interest rate hike in June put some fear on whether global growth will remain resilient”, said Niv Dagan, Melbourne-based executive director at Peak Asset Management.
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as worries about impending interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve continued to reverberate through markets.
On Wall Street, the Dow and the tech-rich Nasdaq both closed 0.1 percent lower, and the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent.
A man walks past a display of the Nikkei average and other market indices outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan April 19, 2016.
Earlier in the Asian session, Japan reported that its April trade surplus far exceeded forecasts, coming in at ¥823.5 billion, well above the market forecast for ¥535 billion.
While oil extended Friday’s losses, the safe-haven Japanese yen gained ground after the USA and Japan clashed over exchange-rate policy at the two-day G7 meeting over the weekend.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen will appear at a panel event hosted by Harvard University on Friday, a day on which investors will also see the second estimate of US first-quarter growth.
The dollar was also higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.39% at 1.1176. Imports fell sharply, which in turn boosted the country’s trade surplus above expectations. Toyota Motor Corp climbed 2 percent while Honda Motor Co Ltd shares rose 2.5 percent and Nissan Motor Co Ltd gained 1.1 percent.
Australian shares hit their lowest level in almost two weeks after iron ore futures dropped more than 6 percent to a three-month low on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
In Australia, the benchmark ASX/200 dropped 0.8% at 5,308.40 points. Fed branch presidents including those from San Francisco, St. Louis, Dallas, Minneapolis are also slated to speak earlier in the week.
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American crude neared US$48 (RM196.36) a barrel as Canada worked to resume output following devastating wildfires, while nickel halted a four-day slide.
