By: Barbara Zigah
In spite of speculation that the Federal Reserve will implement more quantitative easing policies in an effort to spur the sluggish American economy, the U.S. Dollar steadied in Asian trading.
As reported at 2:52 p.m. (HKT) in Hong Kong, the U.S. Dollar slipped against the Japanese Yen, trading at 81.40 Yen, a 15-year low, before recovering slightly, to 82.00 Yen. The idea of further intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance is still being bandied about, especially since there was little discussion or criticism of the earlier intervention at this weekend’s meetings of the IMF and G7.
Last Friday’s poor showing of jobs data from the U.S. helped to drive the weak U.S. currency; the U.S. Dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength versus a pool of major currencies, posted the biggest quarterly loss in more than 7½ years.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, the report showed that, for the 4th month in a row, the U.S. labor market contracted; since June, the total number of U.S. (non-farm) jobs lost is 393,000. Many market players believe that that report should finally be the impetus for additional quantitative easing measures prior to the fiscal year end.