As reported at 12:55 p.m. (JST) on March 24, 2009 in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen fell broadly to hit a 5-month low versus the Euro and a more than 4-month low against the Australian Dollar, as share prices in the region extended gains on the hope that a U.S. bank rescue program will help address the liquidity problem, thus lifting demand for higher-yielding and riskier currencies.
The U.S. Dollar also fell to a 2½-month low against the New Zealand and Australian Dollars as the stock market rally lessened the safe-haven attraction of the U.S. Dollar, which tends to appreciate at times of relentless market stress.
The Federal Reserve has offered incentives for the private investors to assist in buying up to about $1 trillion of toxic assets on the balance sheet of banks in the U.S. Consequently, according to one analyst, the market will be biased for a weaker Japanese Yen.
The Euro rose by 0.2% against the U.S. Dollar from late trading in New York and traded at $1.3665. Against the Japanese Yen, the Euro surged to a high of 134.06 Yen before falling back to 133.47 Yen, up 1.4% on the day. The U.S Dollar rose by 0.8% against the Japanese Yen and traded at 97.73 Yen.