By: Barbara Zigah
With Japan’s opposition party winning yesterday’s election in Japan, the Japanese Yen touched on a 7-week peak against major currencies. Versus the U.S. Dollar, the Japanese Yen traded at 92.54 Yen, a gain of nearly 1% on the EBS trading platform. The Euro was also down against the Japanese currency, trading at 132.44 Yen, a loss of .1%. Despite the win of the Democratic Party, traders in Japan are cautious about propping up the Yen too soon, as there continues to be some uncertainty over the new incoming government.
Falling share prices in Asia also spurred investors to buy up the Japanese Yen and rid themselves of other high-risk currencies. The Chinese stock index continued the string of earlier losses and fell more than 5% .SSEC on continuing concerns over the steep decline in bank lending rates in China. In Japan, trading on the Nikkei index was also very volatile following the Democrats’ win, sliding from an 11-month peak. According to one forex analyst in Tokyo, it’s somewhat difficult to assess whether the decline in Asian markets is due to risk aversion or the Japanese election victory, but likely a combination of the two.
Following Democrat’s win, Japanese Yen hits 7-week high
After working on Wall Street, Barb began her second career as a freelance writer at Daily Forex, where the CEO recognized fresh, untapped potential and was willing to give her a try. She’s never looked back. Since then, she’s worked steadily as a freelance writer and editor in the financial services and Forex-related industry.