Yen stronger on retreat from risk

Story link: Yen stronger on retreat from risk

The Japanese yen strengthened Tuesday as equities markets declined, reducing investor interest in risky investments such as carry trades financed with low-yielding currencies such as the yen.

The retreat from carry trades weakened currencies with high yields, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, but the yen also gained on the US dollar and the yen.

In late-morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥102.3098 to the Australian dollar, at ¥80.604 to the New Zealand dollar, at ¥168.1536 to the euro and at ¥107.3950 to the US dollar.

The Australian dollar was also weaker versus the greenback, with an Aussie worth 95.29 cents US while the New Zealand dollar dropped to 75.05 cents US to the kiwi.

The Aussie was down in relation to the US dollar after data from a survey by National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) showed that business confidence was down in June in Australia, while the New Zealand dollar was hurt by speculation that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand could cut interest rates from the current 8.25 percent.

Meanwhile, the greenback strengthened versus the euro to trade at $1.5657 to the shared currency on comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said in a speech in Virginia that the Fed is considering extending access to direct loans to securities dealers who handle US government debt.