By: Barbara Zigah

The U.S. Dollar struck a 2-month peak versus the Japanese Yen in Asian trading today as institutional investors in Japan bought heavily into the U.S. currency with expectations of rising share prices and perhaps even, interest rates, in the U.S. This follows positive U.S. economic news that the consumer confidence levels in America have improved in March, even besting economists’ predictions of 51.0. As reported by the U.S. Conference Board, consumer confidence in March was 52.5, versus 46.4 in February. Also encouraging the U.S. Dollar buying frenzy is expectation that U.S. labor data, which will be released later today, will show that 50,000 additional jobs were created in March. Should expectations prove accurate, one currency strategist in Japan suggests that the U.S. Dollar may surge above 90.00 Yen, a high not struck since late August 2009.

As reported at 1:50 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar was trading against the Japanese Yen at 93.34 Yen, up from New York’s late trade of 92.81 Yen. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s strength versus a basket of weighted currencies, traded at 81.562 .DXY, off of last night’s New York trade of 81.502 .DXY.