By: Barbara Zigah
The U.S. Dollar held steady near recently established peaks versus the Japanese Yen in Asian trading today, spurred by year end corporate demand. Today is the final trading day of 2009 for a significant number of Japanese firms which will be closed until January 4th 2010. In light holiday trading, market players continue to eye U.S. economic data and this week’s Treasury auctions to assess whether or not the greenback can maintain the rally. Most traders do expect the yield on U.S. Treasuries to rise; nearly $118 billion will be auctioned this week. One economist from Tokyo commented that upcoming remarks from the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke, will be the determinant of the U.S. currency’s continued gains; Mr. Bernanke is expected to speak on January 3rd 2010.
As reported at 3:06 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar was trading at 91.54 Yen, but had risen as high as 91.79 Yen at one point in the day. The Japanese Yen has lost nearly 1% against the greenback this year; last year it had risen almost 19%. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. currency’s value versus a basket of six major currencies, traded at 77.693 .DXY.
U.S. Dollar Holds Steady in Light Asian trading
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.