On January 23, 2009 in early trading in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen held firm versus major currencies on lingering worries and economic fears over the global financial sectors. Trade was restrained and investors appeared to be adjusting their positions given the fact that there are few major economic events in advance of this weekend and next week’s New Year’s holiday in China.
The Japanese Yen came close to a 13-year high versus the U.S. Dollar and was not far from a 7-year high against the Euro, which was touched on earlier this week in the midst of banking woes overseas. According to Toru Umemoto at Barclays Bank, there appears to be risk aversion towards countries with fragile or unstable economies, in particular the U.S. and Europe. He also said that the U.S. Dollar stayed firm against other currencies than the Japanese Yen, partly because of the swift economic steps being taken by the U.S.
The U.S. Dollar changed slightly against the Japanese Yen and traded at 88.98 Yen from Thursday’s trading in the U.S. and still close to a mid-week low trade of 87.10 Yen, which was the lowest trading price in more than a decade.
The Euro dropped by 0.3% against the Japanese Yen and traded at 115.26 Yen, not far from the 7-year low of 112.08 Yen reached on Wednesday. Against the U.S. Dollar, the Euro fell by 0.4% to $1.2950.