Yen Demand Fades as Gold Prices Steady

The Japanese Yen edged lower against the greenback during the Asian trading session following the halt to the steep fall in gold prices which occurred during the early part of the trading week. As reported at 9:58 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair traded at 97.64 Yen, a gain of 0.1% from late trading in New York but still more than 2% lower than last week’s 4-year peak which was a few pips shy of the elusive 100.00 level. The EUR/JPY pair was trading at 128.72 Yen, off of last week’s 3-year high of 131.10 Yen.

Despite the sell off of the Japanese currency which followed the most recent announcement of new stimulus offerings by the Bank of Japan, investors sought the safe haven currency after gold prices plummeted on Monday on renewed global growth concerns brought on by unexpectedly poor economic data from China. Currency strategists in France still expect that an overall outlook of monetary easing from the globe’s major central banks is likely to be risk positive in the long run and still expect to see the USD/JPY pricing to hit 100.00 Yen soon with the 105.00 level likely struck before the end of the year.