By: Barbara Zigah
The Japanese Yen struck a 3-week peak against the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading today as market players turned to the safe-haven Yen following a media report which stated that the Chinese government may consider an interest rate hike before the week’s end in an effort to curtail rising prices ahead of Monday’s release of the CPI for November.
As reported at 12:50 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Japanese yen was trading against the U.S. Dollar at 82.34 Yen, the lowest trade since mid-November. Traders say that should the price break the 81.50 Yen barrier, it might trigger further selling of the greenback.
Most Asian investors appear to be shying away from the common currency Euro, as worries in the Eurozone escalate. Ireland will be in the forefront of scrutiny as they attempt later today to pass the 2011 austerity budget, a funding condition of the E.U./IMF bailout package.
In a somewhat jittery market, the Euro gained .3% against the U.S. Dollar, trading at $1.3246 though it remains highly vulnerable. Should the budget fail to pass, the Euro will likely plummet, and investors would prefer to sit on the sidelines until something definitive occurs.