By: Sara Patterson
It’s been a month since the major earthquake that shook Japan, but a recent, smaller earthquake is causing the Yen to strengthen further. The currency was at 120.81 per Euro, up 1.1% from 122.12 in New York at the close of yesterday’s trading day. This is the Yen’s biggest daily gain since March 16. In JPY-USD trading, the Yen increased to 83.88 per dollar, up from 84.60. The US dollar also climbed yesterday, from $1.4436 to $1.44 per Euro.
In light of the recent disasters in Japan, the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for Japanese growth from 1.6 to 1.4. This behavior is typical for the Japanese currency during times of disaster. The IMF’s forecast for 2012 was raised from 1.8 percent to 2.1 percent.