The US Dollar is currently under some pressure but earlier in the session it had held steady and near to an 8-week peak versus the Japanese Yen, the rise coming only after risk appetite recovered. Over the past few days, the USD/JPY had been under pressure, especially in the hours after it was learned that US President Trump unceremoniously fired FBI Director James Comey. Markets had been very anxious over the implications given that Comey was in charge of the latest investigation into possible Russian collusion in the matter of the US presidential election outcome. Trump claims that the firing was as a result of Comey’s poor handling of the Clinton email scandal.
As reported at 11:07 am (BST) in London, the USD/JPY was trading at 113.879 Yen, down 0.12%; earlier, the pair had hit a peak in the session at 114.131 Yen, while the low was at 113.623 Yen. The USD/CHF was higher at 1.0076 Swiss Francs, a gain of 0.05%.
Draghi in the Crosshairs
In the Eurozone, with a sharp fall in volatility since the presidential election was put to bed in France, the abating of political risk there has helped keep the pressure off the Euro. Now, analysts say that the Euro’s direction will largely be a factor of fundamentals and not political risk. Market players will be turning their attention to the Netherlands where the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, is due to speak later today. Investors are anxious to get a feeling for the ECB’s sentiment, with a more hawkish tone anticipated given the receding political risks and the strengthening of the Eurozone economy. Currently, the EUR/USD was down at $1.0867, a loss of 0.08%.