With the U.S. election now called in favor of incumbent president Barack Obama, the U.S. Dollar slipped against the safe haven Japanese Yen during the Asian trading session, as speculators anticipate that the Federal Reserve’s current loose monetary policy is likely to hold sway over at least a part of the next four years. Markets had already begun to factor in an Obama win once swing state Ohio was given over to the Democratic ticket, with markets’ reaction now moving decidedly into risk-off trade.
As reported at 11:31 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair slipped to 78.84 Yen, a loss of 0.6% thus far on the day and well below the 4-month peak struck last week. Immediate support is pegged at 79.275 Yen, the October 30th low struck immediately after the Japanese central bank added additional stimulus.
The EUR/USD pair was trading higher at 1.2862, well off the 2-month trough of $1.2763 struck yesterday as investors consider now the Greek parliamentary vote on austerity which is needed in order for the government to receive its next bailout tranche. The AUD/USD pair also edged higher, recently hitting a session high of 1.0461 surpassing the 5-week peak of $1.0448 which was struck yesterday.