By: Barbara Zigah
The U.S. Dollar fell against the Japanese Yen as investors decided to take profits following the recent rise to a 9-month peak; analysts say that U.S. Dollar buying is limiting losses in the short term. As reported at 12:22 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar was trading at 81.68 Japanese Yen, a decline of 0.1% but not far from the 9-month high of 81.873 Japanese Yen struck on Friday on the EBS trading platform. Since early February, when the Bank of Japan intervened with a major flood of liquidity among other measures, the Yen has lost more than 7% against the greenback. The U.S. Dollar could continue to see additional gains, but they could be capped dependent on Friday’s non-farms payroll data.
Trading recently at $1.3194, the Euro-Dollar remains close to a 2-week low of $1.31806 which was struck earlier in the trading session. The weakness resumes from last Friday, when the Spanish government announced that it would not be meeting the 2012 budget which initially called for significant austerity measures to address the fiscal imbalances. Analysts say that that intentional budget miss speaks to the credibility of the E.U.’s newest fiscal pact. The U.S. Dollar Index, which gauges the strength of the greenback relative to a weighted basket of currencies including the Euro, rose to 79.849 .DXY, the highest level in more than two weeks.