Market News

The Japanese Yen edged lower against its two main rivals, the U.S. Dollar and the common currency Euro, as market players await a policy decision from the Bank of Japan which is due in a short while.

The Japanese Yen firmed during the Asian session earlier following a sharp rise inspired by investors who cut their bearish holdings after one G7 official expressed the members’ concerns about the Yen’s recent movements.

The Japanese Yen held close to its recently struck low versus the greenback during the Asian session earlier following comments made by an official of the U.S. Treasury Department in support of the Japanese government’s efforts to end its prolonged period of economic stagnation.

During the Asian trading session, the common currency Euro had slipped to a 2-week trough against its main rival the U.S. Dollar, and continues to edge off the 15-month peak struck on February 1st as markets take time to digest the ramifications of last week’s political dissension in Spain and Italy and comments made by the ECB chief, Mario Draghi.

One day after the European Central Bank expressed its concerns with the recent rise of the Euro, the common currency held steady close to a 2-week trough against its main rival, the U.S. Dollar.

The Euro slipped against both the greenback and the Japanese Yen during Asian trading hours as investors take a wait and see approach ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting decision which will be announced later today.

The Japanese Yen fell broadly during the Asian trading session while investors consider the next probable Bank of Japan governor who will be called to act as the government’s puppet in their quest to bring the Japanese economy back to health.

During the Asian trading session, the Euro gave back some of its previous gains as investors consider the political fallout in two of the Eurozone’s largest economies, specifically Italy and Spain.

A new week began much as the old week did, with the Japanese Yen under unrelenting sell pressure as investors wonder how far the Japanese central bank will have to ease in order to bring under control several years of dogged deflation.

The Japanese Yen was broadly lower during Friday’s Asian trading session, posting the largest monthly drop against the Euro in more than a decade as investors ready themselves for the Bank of Japan’s aggressive easing measures.

As the US economy slipped to an annualized rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, the rate of growth in Asia surpassed all expectations.

Market players moved into higher risk currencies such as the Euro and shunned both the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement yesterday to maintain its $85 billion monthly bond-purchasing scheme.

The Euro steadied close to a 14-month peak against the greenback during the Asian trading session, but resistance which is set at $1.35 has still not been breached and currency experts say that without breaking that key psychological level that gains will be limited.

During the Asian trading session, the U.S. Dollar slipped from a recently struck multi-year peak after investors booked profits in the wake of the recent Dollar rally, however analysts confirm that in light of the Bank of Japan’s aggressively loose monetary policy that the Dollar’s decline is certain to be short-lived.

The Euro was lifted close to an 11-month peak versus the U.S. Dollar during the Asian trading session, propped up by growing optimism that a true economic recovery in the Eurozone might finally be under way.