Yen Broadly Softer on Easing Concerns

The Japanese Yen slipped to a 7½ month low versus the U.S. Dollar during the Asian trading session today, with a similar fall against the common currency Euro, as investors speculate that an incoming Japanese government will aggressively push for a softer Japanese currency to lift the economy.

As reported at 11:51 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair was trading at a high of 81.955 Japanese Yen, a level unseen by traders since April; more recently, the pair was trading at 81.90 Yen, 0.2% above late trading in New York. Economic data from Japan also tended to undermine the safe haven currency; a report that exports unexpectedly fell last month all but cemented concerns of another quarterly recession. The EUR/JPY pair was earlier trading at a peak of 104.99 Yen, a 6½ month peak, and recently traded at 104.92 Japanese Yen, a 0.2% gain from late New York trade.

Also during the Asian session, the Euro moved close to a 2-week peak versus the U.S. Dollar, as market players anticipate that Greece will get their much needed bailout tranche in short order. The Greek government has been working diligently to ensure that they have met the conditions of the bailout agreement and it appears that there are no major hurdles left to overcome. The EUR/USD pair was earlier trading at $1.2810, close to the Tuesday peak of $1.28295.