Market News

The Japanese Yen inched higher to a 7-week peak versus its key rival, the U.S. Dollar, following a sell off of currencies from emergent markets around the globe.

The Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc both firmed on Friday after an overnight surge of the safe haven currencies precipitated by growing concerns of a Chinese economic slowdown following the release of an unexpectedly weak factory output survey.

The Canadian Dollar held close to a 4-year trough versus its North American counterpart, the U.S. Dollar, following comments made by officials at the Bank of Canada which seemed to suggest that monetary policy there is headed for a significant change.

Asian stocks rose yesterday as the two-day Bank of Japan policy meeting came to an end. The yen fell against all but one of its 16 major peers after the Bank of Japan failed to signal additional stimulus.

Rising expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank is once again prepared to begin tapering its monthly bond purchases has helped to broadly support the greenback against its peers during Asian trading.

The U.S. Dollar was broadly higher in the wake of unexpectedly strong economic data which appears to have convinced FX investors that the Federal Reserve Bank is likely to continue to taper as had been initially promised.

Following a two day rally, the U.S. Dollar’s gains were halted upon the release of unexpectedly mixed data which left market players guessing about the greenback’s likely future direction.

The U.S. Dollar firmed during Thursday’s Asian trading session after investors finally shrugged off last week’s labor report disappointment and had their faith renewed in the recovery of the U.S. economy.

The U.S. Dollar reversed direction and moved higher against both the Australian Dollar and the Japanese Yen after the release of retail sales date from the U.S. gave dollar bulls a reason to celebrate.

The Japanese Yen eased back against the U.S. Dollar, getting some relief from the previous day’s rally which followed a Wall Street sell off and yet another fall in yields for U.S. Treasuries.

During light Asian trading session, the U.S. Dollar struck a 1-month trough against the Japanese Yen as market players reevaluate the Federal Reserve’s likely next move on Quantitative Easing in the wake of last Friday’s disappointing labor report.

The U.S. Dollar Index edged away from a recently struck 7-week peak during Friday’s Asian trading session as investors anxiously await the government’s release of private sector jobs date which will either reaffirm or question the Fed’s intention to begin tapering of its long held QE program.

The U.S. Dollar moved broadly higher following Wednesday’s ADP report which showed an unexpectedly better outcome of 238,000 new private sector jobs being added in December, the largest single month’s jump in more than a year.

The U.S. Dollar held close to a 1-month peak against its major rivals during Wednesday’s Asian trading session as the result of a strong rebound on the back of unexpectedly improved trade data from the U.S.

Unexpectedly poor economic data from the United States helped to send the greenback broadly lower during Tuesday’s Asian trading session, while simultaneously giving the Yen a solid boost.