U.S. Dollar Falls to 8-week Low against Yen on Poor U.S. Treasury Yields

By: Barbara Zigah

Falling prices in Asian equity markets coupled with lower than 3% yields on U.S. Treasury products helped push the U.S. Dollar lower versus the Japanese Yen. The Shanghai Composite slipped 1.77% and other regional exchanges were also weakened. Meanwhile, the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note slipped to the lowest point in more than 14 months, selling at a yield of 2.994%. As reported at 2:50 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar dropped to an 8-week trough, trading against the Yen at 88.84 Yen, off from Monday’s 89.41 Yen traded late in New York. Traders also said that Japanese exporter selling for settlement of their accounts at the close of the month also weighed heavily against the U.S. currency.

This week, the focus will turn to key economic data from the United States; expectations are that the data will show weakening in the American economy. That news will help the safe-haven Japanese Yen appreciate even more against the U.S. Dollar. Should the U.S. indicators be as poor as expected, yields on U.S. Treasury products will continue to fall and put additional downward pressure on the U.S. currency against the Yen.