Reuters: US Dollar Report: FOREX-Yen slumps broadly as official says weakness not over

Reuters: US Dollar Report Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

FOREX-Yen slumps broadly as official says weakness not over Jan 24th 2013, 19:10 Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:10pm EST * Japanese official says yen decline not over * Record trade deficit for Japan adds to selling pressure * German data boosts hopes euro zone economy stabilizing By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The yen tumbled against the dollar on Thursday, snapping a three-day advance, after a Japanese economic official said the government has no problem with the dollar hitting 100 yen. The Japanese currency has weakened to about 90 per dollar from 80 since November on expectations Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will force the central bank to ease monetary policy to combat deflation. But its decline stalled earlier this week after the Bank of Japan said its open-ended commitment to buy assets would kick in only next year, disappointing investors who had expected for more aggressive easing measures. "That disappointment only opened the door for bargain hunters who are now driving yen crosses up again due to the fact that Abenomics is still in play, and it will likely continue," said Neal Gilbert, market strategist at GFT in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet members are now aiming for 100.00 on the dollar/yen and we can expect more verbal, political and monetary rhetoric until that goal is reached." The dollar rose 1.5 percent to 89.87 yen, a day after hitting a one-week low of 88.03 yen. It had earlier risen as high as 90.14 yen, breaking above resistance at 90 and is on track to hit 90.25 yen, the 2-1/2-year high hit on Monday. Traders cited reports quoting Japan's deputy economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, as saying the yen's decline is not over and a dollar/yen level of 100 would not be a concern. Nishimura was also quoted saying that only if the dollar rises to 110-120 yen would it add to domestic import costs. "At some stage, the ability of this jawboning and verbal intervention to drive the yen lower will become subject to diminishing returns, but that does not appear to be the case yet," said Bob Lynch, chief currency strategist at HSBC in New York. A record trade deficit for Japan and comments by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he expected the Bank of Japan to achieve its 2 percent inflation goal as soon as possible added to selling pressure. The euro rallied 1.8 percent to 120.17 yen, inching toward a 20-month high of 120.73 yen hit on Friday. Traders cited Asian central banks as major buyers of the euro as they stepped up yen selling. Against the dollar, the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.3367 , not far from the 11-month high of $1.3403 hit on Jan. 14, which is acting as near-term resistance. Support was cited at $1.3250, near lows touched on Jan. 11. Private sector activity data highlighted the diverging fortunes of the bloc's biggest economies. Weak performance in France was offset by numbers out of Germany showing that its private sector expanded at the fastest rate in a year. "The better PMI reading suggests a euro zone economy that is starting to stabilize," said Aroop Chatterjee, currency strategist at Barclays Capital in New York. "It's not out of the woods yet, but the economic and financial conditions are certainly better now than last year." Traders said macro funds and asset managers were buying the euro, and if data continued to show prospects for the region were improving, the currency could rise further. Some analysts said the announcement on the size of next week's first repayments of cheap three-year loans taken by banks from the European Central Bank just over a year ago could give the euro a bit of a lift. Banks took more than 1 trillion euros in the long-term refinancing operation loans from the ECB. A Reuters poll showed traders expected about 100 billion to be paid back next week. Option traders reported strong demand for euro calls - bets that the euro will rise - for expiry on Friday. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions