Ahead of the last weekend before the US Presidential election, the safe haven Japanese Yen was pushed higher versus the US Dollar as FX traders ponder the possibility that Donald Trump could become the next US President. The US Dollar Index, which is used as a yardstick to evaluate the Dollar’s relative strength, hit multi-week lows on Thursday. The latest polls shows that the gap between the Democratic and Republican candidates is narrowing and moving nearer to a statistical dead-heat in some cases. That prospect has FX traders who fear a Trump presidency fleeing to the relative safety of the Japanese Yen.
As reported at 10:01 (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 102.934 Yen, essentially flat during the Asian session. The pair has earlier traded at a low of 99.539 Yen and a peak of 102.478 Yen. The US Dollar Index was trading at 97.190 .DXY, a gain of 0.03% just off the day’s low.
Mexican Peso Pressured by Trump Threat
The Mexican Peso is also under some pressure given the prospect of a Republican president. Donald Trump has used Mexico, and specifically the trade agreement with Mexico and the ongoing immigration issue, as two of his many platform points. Some analysts believe Trump is likely to try to renegotiate the existing trade agreement if he is elected. The USD/MXN pair was up 0.03% to trade at 19.1577 Mexican Pesos.