100.00 Yen Level Still Eluding Traders

The Japanese Yen held close to a multi-year low versus the greenback during Wednesday’s trading session though currency analysts expect that the Yen is likely to breach the 100.00 Yen barrier level in the near term given the new and aggressive direction that the Bank of Japan has promised to take. As reported at 12:15 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair was trading at 99.00 Yen on the EBS trading platform, not too far from Tuesday’s peak of 99.67 Yen, a level unseen in almost four years. The first resistance to be breached is pegged at 99.73 Yen, and then the elusive 100.00 Yen level; one strategist in New York sees the 100.00 level being tested again before the week’s end.

Meanwhile, commodity linked currencies got a big boost from news that Chinese imports unexpectedly surged 14.1% for the year; the increase in imports was larger than exports thus a small trade deficit emerged. The Aussie Dollar edged 0.3% higher against the greenback, with the AUD/USD pair trading at $1.0518, a fresh 2-month peak. The Aussie had also recently seen sharp gains versus the safe haven Yen; on Tuesday the AUD/JPY pair hit on a near 5-year peak at 104.35 Yen.