Japanese Yen gains Against U.S. Dollar

As reported at 1:19 pm (JST) on March 12, 2009 in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen rose by more than 1% against the U.S. Dollar, adding to its steep gains yesterday.  Meanwhile the N.Z. Dollar gained after its central bank reduced interest rates less than expected, which is a record low.  According to the NZ Reserve Bank, its economy will hit a low by mid-year and gradually pick up from there.  The NZ dollar rose after the NZ central bank limited the rate reduction to 50 bp, less than what some investors had expected.

Across the board, the U.S. Dollar weakened today as investors decided that its recent gains had reached its limit as no new stimulus has been proposed to encourage fresh buying and following the release of  Chinese trade report which showed concerns about China's ability to continue to finance the American deficit.

At 04:00 GMT, the U.S. Dollar fell against the Japanese Yen to a low of 95.95 Yen, the weakest price in 2 weeks, and fell by 1.0% to 96.37 Yen. The Pound Sterling, the Euro and Australian dollar also weakened sharply versus the Japanese Yen. T he Euro fell by 1% to 123.50 yen.  The European single currency maintained its gains on the U.S. Dollar and traded at $1.2843.