Another fall in the price of oil sent investors rushing to the safe haven currencies and helped to push up the Japanese Yen to a 1-month peak versus both the common currency Euro and the U.S. Dollar. Commodity-linked currencies, especially those in less developed economies like Russia, came under heavy pressure with the Russian Ruble plunging even in spite of the surprise and major interest rate hike which should have, in other circumstances, helped to stop the Ruble’s freefall. Also under pressure were the Canadian Dollar and the Norwegian Krona.
As reported at 8:37 am (GMT) in London, the USD/JPY traded at 116.22 Yen, a loss of 0.1% for the greenback while the EUR/JPY was trading at 145.6400 Yen, recovering from the session’s earlier low of 145.2458 Yen. The other safe haven currency, the Swiss Franc, also pushed especially against the Euro, with the EUR/CHF pair trading at 1.2009 Swiss Francs, close to a 15-month peak.
Fed Meeting Eyed
Also putting some stress on FX markets is the upcoming Federal Reserve Bank policy meeting which begins later today. Investors will be keen to hear whether or not the Fed gives the green light for a rate hike by the middle of 2015; a further divergence in policy will likely support the greenback even as it weighs against the dollar’s major rivals.