Higher Share Prices in Asia help Euro to 1-week Peak

By: Barbara Zigah

At 2:25 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the common currency Euro struck a 1-week peak versus the Japanese Yen on rising share prices in the Asian stock market; the Japanese Nikkei was up 1.6%, and the South Korean and Hong Kong exchanges also saw average price increases. Some market players believe that the Euro may continue to see gains if economic data from the Euro-zone, which will be released later today, shows improved industrial output; analysts predict a rise of .5% in April figures, as compared to March’s decline of 1.3%. Foreign hedge fund operators and Asian investors helped to prop up the Euro which traded at 112.01 Yen, the highest trade since early June. Against the U.S. Dollar, the Euro traded at a 1-week peak of $1.2208; on Friday in the U.S., the Euro was trading late in the session at $1.2077 and 110.65 Yen.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s value versus a weighted basket of major currencies, traded at 86.993 .DXY. Against the Japanese Yen, the greenback was trading at 91.86 Yen as of 2:50 p.m. (JST), and many market players don’t expect the U.S. unit to rise higher than 92.30 Yen during the global trading day, as it’s been reported by a source at a Japanese bank that exporters in Japan have placed $300-400 million sell orders above that level.