The Japanese yen joined the US dollar in the decline today as US politicians managed to avert the financial cliff in the United States and traders were selling safe assets amid the resulting risk appetite.
Safe currencies, namely the dollar and the yen, were very weak today amid celebration of what looks like the end of the yearlong worries about the potential financial disaster in the United States. The Japanese currency was falling even versus the greenback as the probability of another intervention from policy makers added more pressure on the currency. Akira Amari, the Minister of State for Economic Revitalization, said that the new Bank of Japan’s Governor, who will replace Masaaki Shirakawa in April, should “share this sense of crisis and realize Japan is losing its position as a major economic power”.
USD/JPY climbed from 86.62 to 87.09 as of 13:01 GMT today and its daily high of 87.31 was the highest since July 2010. EUR/JPY surged from 114.18 to 115.36 and the daily maximum of 115.93 was highest since July 8, 2011.
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