Yen continues to weaken

Story link: Yen continues to weaken

There were indications that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was again attempting to restrain the rise of the New Zealand dollar on Monday by selling off the currency as it did last week.

The tactic didn’t seem to have much effect, however. The kiwi had dropped 0.7 percent in relation to the US dollar at one point, but by mid-session trade in New York, the New Zealand currency was just 0.1 percent lower in relation to the greenback, to $0.7540.

Meanwhile, a number of currencies hit long-term highs versus the Japanese yen as investors continued to sell the currency in order to engage in carry trades. The US dollar added 0.1 percent versus the yen to ¥123.61, while the euro added 0.3 percent against the yen to ¥165.87, a new record high.

Sterling and the New Zealand dollar each gained 0.6 percent on the yen, to ¥245.13 and ¥93.19. Earlier in the session, sterling saw a 15-year high of ¥245.23. The Australian dollar reached a 16-year high versus the yen, at ¥104.35, before retreating to ¥104.12.

Sterling strengthened during the day on reports that house prices were up again in June and the Bank of England’s quarterly bulletin made it sound as if a new interest rate hike is in the cards. The pound added 0.2 percent versus the euro to £0.6758, while it was 0.3 percent higher against the US dollar to $1.9824.

The euro also gained on the dollar, adding 0.1 percent to $1.3397.