The yen continued to lose today versus most of the 16 main traded currencies as equities and commodities markets rebounded worldwide yesterday, as the global economic recovery is pushing investors to riskier assets.
Today, a Japanese employment report, indicated that 5.7 percent of the workforce in the country is currently not employed, the highest rate since the Second World War, suggesting that the wealthiest Asian nation, even if posting some positive economic figures, is still facing a very delicate situation as social consequences from the global slump emerge. Several currencies benefited from a rise in stock markets worldwide, mainly favoring the Swedish krona and the Australian dollar, being the latter influenced by a rebounded in commodities prices.
The unemployment situation in Japan added to the already pessimist scenario for the yen’s outlook, as the return of risk appetite make investors who hold yen-priced assets in their portfolios to abandon them in search for higher-yielding opportunities in stocks and emergent markets. The short-term forecast for the yen is not favorable since the current movements were basically influenced by market sentiment, but now, Japanese employment figures are also playing a negative role for the yen’s outlook, as investors become more suspicious regarding the Japanese socioeconomic future.
EUR/JPY traded at 134.73 as of 11:24 GMT from a previous rate of 133.72 yesterday. USD/JPY traded at 93.77 from a previous rate of 93.64.
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