Yen Falls Further as Euro Recovers

By: Barbara Zigah

The Japanese Yen fell against the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading today following a report that showed that the Japanese current account posted a record deficit in January, the first time in three years and at 437.7 billion Japanese Yen it was well above the estimates of approximately 317.8 billion Japanese Yen. As reported at 11:58 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Yen slipped 0.2% to trade at 81.20 Yen, breaking through resistance which gave it momentum on the hourly chart. Since late January, Japanese Yen has softened some 6.5% on the back of the Bank of Japan’s interventionist actions.

Meanwhile, the Euro-Dollar rebounded from the 3-week trough of $1.31 struck yesterday as Greece’s efforts to restructure its debt looks to have sufficiently progressed even as the deadline looms later today. Some earlier holdouts seemed to have finally understood that the Greek government had no alternative to offer and that there would be no further negotiations, and have now thrown their support behind the government. The Euro was trading recently at $1.3180, the high of the day. Yesterday, ADP releases its labor data report which showed improving numbers beyond expectations. Tomorrow, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release official data which is expected to show 210,000 new non-farms jobs were added in February, down from January’s number of 243,000.