As reported at 3:07 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen and the U.S. Dollar both fell to their lowest levels, respectively, in several months following the conclusion of the G20 meeting. Investor’s risk appetite was boosted temporarily, but later was subdued as caution again became the watchword ahead of the release later today of U.S. employment numbers.
A $1.1 trillion agreement was announced by the G20 leaders on Thursday, in an attempt to turn around the global economic crisis. Furthermore, U.S. officials stated that an accounting rule change would be forthcoming, allowing U.S. banks more flexibility when placing a value on their “toxic” assets.
These two developments improved risk appetite among investors and tended to hold the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen down today. The Japanese Yen touched briefly on its lowest price in more than 5 months, in early trading the U.S. Dollar hit a 3-month low against the Australian Dollar.
The U.S. Dollar rose.1% to 99.65 Yen, after a brief flirtation with 100.18 Yen traded on the EBS platform; that was the first time the 100.00 benchmark has been breached in nearly 5 months. The Australian Dollar lost .4%, trading at $0.7131, though it briefly hit a 3-month high, trading at $0.7230. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian Dollar lost .3% to 70.95 Yen, falling from72.31 Yen, a 5-month high.