All Entries Tagged With: "yen"
Currency Wars Continue, Japan Enters the Mix
Overnight Wednesday, the Bank of Japan intervened in the value of the yen. The Bank opted to sell trillions of yen, a move which may have significantly contributed to the depreciation of the currency. The yen depreciated well over 2% against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, well over 1% against the euro, and almost 2.5% [...]
Dollar Bounces Before Gravity Takes Over
The March 2011 report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics noted a gain in US non-farm payrolls of 216,000 for the month, and a headline unemployment rate of 8.8%. The numbers exceeded expectations, and put a charge into the US dollar on Friday, pushing the EURUSD down to less than 1.41 and the USDJPY [...]
UK Inflation Raises Odds for Interest Rate Hike
The UK posted an annualized inflation rate in February of 4.4%, some 240 basis points above the target 2% set by the Bank of England. The jump is attributed to rising fuel costs, housing costs, and clothing. Rising inflation numbers have set tongues to wagging again about the possibility of an immediate interest rate hike [...]
Some Pushback from Portugal
Finance ministers from around the European Union are scheduled to begin meetings on March 24th to pin down the details of the changes to Europe’s bailout program that were outlined earlier this month at an EU summit meeting. Before that meeting begins, Portugal’s parliament is set to vote on a new, more stringent package of [...]
G7 Central Banks Gang Up on Yen
The central banks of all G7 member states and the European Central Bank joined forces on Friday to sell about $30 billion worth of yen into the forex markets in an effort to tamp down the Japanese currency’s recent volatility. The move appears to have worked, pushing the USDJPY above 81, a sharp rise from [...]
Japan Considers Yen Intervention
Following an unprecedented USDJPY exchange at 76.25, the US dollar has recovered its wits somewhat. The 76.25 level is the lowest ever in the USDJPY trade, and it came on the heels of increased concern about Japan’s ability to cope with the nuclear issues at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Counter-intuitively, perhaps, the bad news [...]
Despite Japan Disaster, Rate Hikes Still on Tap
A reasonable question to ask in light of the disaster that has hit Japan in the wake of an earthquake, a tsunami, and partial meltdowns of two of the country’s nuclear power generating units is whether or not the European Central Bank (ECB) and other primarily European banks will go ahead with what were all [...]
Yen Rises on Repatriation
One similarity between the 1995 earthquake that shattered the city of Kobe and the current crisis in Japan is that the flow of funds into the country quickened as insurers and other companies repatriated yen from abroad. Those actions sent the yen to an all-time high of 79.70 against the US dollar. Forex traders are [...]
Japan Earthquake, Eurobonds Lead Concerns
The magnitude 8.9 earthquake and 30-foot waves that struck Japan have caused Japanese companies to begin repatriating yen, sending the USDJPY below 82. The quake forced factory shutdowns at major automakers and a fire at one of the country’s largest oil refineries. Damage estimates are not available yet, but the damage will surely reach into [...]
Iranian Protests Weigh on US Dollar
With clashes between government supporters and demonstrators now centered in Tripoli, the struggle for control of Libya could be entering its last days. That should have been good for crude oil traders, but news from elsewhere, this time Iran, brought back the worries about global oil supplies. The news from Iran is that police used [...]
