By: Barbara Zigah
The U.S. Dollar rose to a 1-month peak versus the Japanese Yen in Asian trading following the release of encouraging labor data from the U.S. yesterday suggesting that the all important labor market there is finally recovering. As reported at 2:20 p.m. (SGT) in Singapore, the U.S. Dollar was trading up against the Japanese Yen at 83.50 Yen on the EBS trading platform, an increase of .3%, and the highest in a month.
In the U.S., it was reported yesterday that new unemployment claims fell to their lowest level in 2½ years; economists’ caution, however, that the data is likely skewed, as severe weather conditions across much of the country may have kept potential new claims filers away.
The Australian Dollar also tumbled against the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed that interest rates would remain unchanged for an extended period of time. According to a statement released by Glenn Stevens, the governor of the RBA, the central bank policy was appropriate given the challenges that the country is now experiencing. Some analysts expect that a rate hike might be forthcoming after May, but many more expect that a rate hike won’t occur until August. In Singapore trading, the Aussie traded against the greenback at $0.9973, a decline of .7%.