The yen had a significant rise today against major currencies, rumors that losses in the U.S. banks will go further brought investors to buy Japanese assets, considered a «safe harbor» from the global crisis.
A part from the international news, a domestic report showing that exports are decreasing at a slower pace improved the optimism even further in Japan, since for 4 months in a row, the exports were hitting one record low after another. Other negative news coming from overseas increased the gains for the Japanese currency, today in Britain, a budget will be delivered, and it is very likely that it may be the biggest deficit on record.
The opinions from economists in and out of Japan are rather similar. It is difficult to turn back to high-yielding assets when there are still no consistent signs that the global economy is going to revive, and for the current time being, few are those willing to take risks when another chapter of the global slump may unfold at any moment, as negative reports coming from the worlds biggest economies are frequent.
The USD/JPY fell to 97.90 from 98.60. In Europe, the GBP/JPY traded at 143.25 remaining stable in the intraday comparison chart.
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