Market News

As reported at 3:06 pm (JST) on March 17, 2009 in Tokyo, the Euro moved back towards an eleven-week high against the Japanese Yen and a 5-week high versus the U.S.

As reported at 2:56 p.m. (JST), on March 16, 2009 in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar rose broadly today, with investors looking ahead to this week’s policy meeting by the Federal Reserve Bank, following the recently ended meeting by the Group of 20 finance ministers.

As reported at 2:59 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo on March 13, 2009, the Single Currency rose to a 2-month high versus the U.S. Dollar.

As reported at 1:19 pm (JST) on March 12, 2009 in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen rose by more than 1% against the U.S. Dollar, adding to its steep gains yesterday. Meanwhile the N.Z.

As reported in Tokyo at 4:47 p.m. JST on March 10, 2009, the U.S. Dollar dropped against a group of currencies, retracing much of yesterday’s sharp rise as funds moving into the U.S. Dollar slowed and investors trimmed bets that the Dollar will rise further.

As reported at 8:56 a.m. on March 9, 2009 in London, the Japanese Yen fell broadly as more gloomy Japanese economic data intensified concerns about the extent of the severity of the economic downturn.

On March 6, 2009 in Tokyo trading, the USD tumbled, retreating from a 3-year peak versus a basket of currencies reached earlier this week, as investors prepare for data which is expected to confirm that last month, U.S. job losses increased significantly.

Today in London, the Euro fell to its lowest level in 3 months against the USD on speculation that the President of the European Central Bank is likely to indicate that interest rate in the Euro Zone will keep reducing.

As reported at 8:52 a.m. GMT, the USD lost ground versus the Euro and other high yielding currencies in early morning trading today, as equity markets sought to recover some significant losses from yesterday’s trading day. Nonetheless, trading activity was somewhat restrained because investors are taking a wait-and-see stand, with the expectations that continuing concerns about the health of the various financial systems and a worsening global recession will curtail any movement into risky assets.

As reported at 9:03 a.m. GMT on March 2, 2009, in London, the USD hit a 3-year high against a group of currencies as news spread that the United States federal government plans to inject additional money into the struggling American International Group and this prompted investors to buy the U.S. Dollar as a safe-haven currency. According to reports, the federal government is ready to inject about $30 billion lifeline into AIG as the company prepares to report a huge quarterly loss today, the largest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history.

At 12:33 p.m. JST, the Japanese Yen took an upturn, rebounding sharply from a 3-month long low versus the U.S. Dollar, and making gains against most major currencies, while speculators benefited from profit-taking on the U.S. Dollar after its run against the Yen. The Japanese Yen had lost nearly 11% versus the U.S. Dollar since it touched on a 13 year high last month; likewise, it lost nearly 10% versus the Euro, and the slide deepened after the release last week of poorer than expected GDP numbers and the Japanese finance minister’s resignation.

On February 26, 2009 at 3:12 p.m. in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen fell to a 3-month low against the U.S. Dollar and a 7-week low versus the Australian dollar, as investors’ bet against the currency mounted, aided by worries about the outlook for the Japanese economy.

On February 25, 2009 at 3:37 p.m. in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen dropped across the board, hitting a fresh 3-month low against the U.S. Dollar as investors no longer perceive the Japanese Yen as a safe-haven, because of the rapid weakening of the Japanese economy and the associated domestic political worries.

In early morning trading in London today, the U.S. Dollar touched on a 3-month high versus the Japanese Yen while investors continue to shed the Japanese currency in the face of continued persistent worries about financial institutions. According to a currency strategist at UBS, the markets have basically stopped looking to the Japanese Yen as a “safe” currency, amid continued concerns and deteriorating confidence in the faltering Japanese economy.

On February 23, 2009 at 3:44 GMT in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar fell against the Euro and the Japanese Yen as share prices jumped after reports that Citigroup was contemplating the possibility of the U.S. government taking up as much as 40% of the company’s common stock.