The Japanese yen, known as the safest bet in forex markets during times of uncertainty, profited today from negative releases in both Europe and North America, allowing the Asian refuge currency to post the sharpest gains versus currencies tied to growth.
The trading session started today with new pessimistic figures in Europe, as an important business confidence report published in Germany showed the first slump in this publication for the first time since the EU started to emerge from the worst recession since its foundation, allowing the yen to gain not only versus the euro, but also versus other regional currencies in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. U.S. reports published today also brought more pessimism to global trading, as consumer confidence ended a consecutive series of advances and fell much below forecasts, providing support for the yen’s winning streak to be extended.
As it becomes clearer now, 2010 is not going to be a year of a sharp economic rebounds around the world as previously expected, and as bad events continue to follow, it is possible that important wealthy nations will experience slow growth and even an extended recession, if the financial situation doesn’t improve on a global scale.
CAD/JPY fell to 85.38 from yesterday’s rate of 87.38. EUR/JPY also fell, to 121.86 from 123.89.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Japanese Yen,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.