Japanese Yen Climbs Against Majors
May 01 2012 - 2:46AM
RTTF2
The Japanese yen spiked up against other major currencies in the
late Asian session on Tuesday as investors sought low yielding
currency amid worries about the global economy following recent
weak data from the U.S. and Europe.
The figures released by the Commerce Department on Monday showed
that the growth in U.S. consumer spending slowed somewhat in March
even though personal incomes grew slightly more than expected.
Meanwhile, the Spanish economy returned to recession in the
first quarter of 2012 as estimated by the Bank of Spain, but the
rate of contraction in activity was slightly weaker than
thought.
The statistical office Ine said yesterday that the gross
domestic product contracted 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the
first quarter, compared to 0.4 percent decline estimated by the
central bank last week.
The yen touched a fresh 2-1/2-month high of 64.95 against the NZ
dollar, more than 2-month high of 79.68 against the US dollar and
near a 3-month high of 82.27 against the Australian dollar with
64.00, 78.3 and 81.5 seen as the next upside target levels,
respectively.
The Reserve Bank of Australia, or RBA, today decided to cut the
main interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 % in a bid to support
economic growth.
The rate cut was larger than expected by economists who were
looking for a reduction of 25 basis points.
A separate report showed early in the day that Australia's
manufacturing activity contracted sharply in April.
The Australian Industry Group reported today that its
Performance of Manufacturing Index declined 5.6 points to 43.9.
The Japanese currency hit fresh 2-week highs of 80.59 against
the Canadian dollar and 129.33 against the pound, compared to
Monday's close of 80.00 and 128.5, respectively.
Against the euro and the franc, the yen rose to as high as
105.58 and 87.91 with 105.00 and 87.00, respectively seen as the
next upside target levels.
In the European session, U.K. manufacturing PMI for April is
due.
From the U.S., ISM manufacturing data for April and construction
spending for March are set for release in the New York morning
session.
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