Yen weaker on data, politics

Story link: Yen weaker on data, politics

The Japanese yen was weaker again Tuesday as economic news for the nation continues to be disappointing and as the approval rating of Prime Minister Taro Aso and his cabinet has dropped to near a record low.

The yen is in the process of losing its status as a safe investment ahead of separate reports that are expected to show that Japan’s trade deficit will be the biggest in almost a quarter of a century and that consumer prices were down in January for the first time in a year.

The approval rating of the Prime Minister, who is in Washington, DC, to meet with US President Barack Obama, has fallen to 11.4 percent and his disapproval rating stands at 80.2 percent, and the opposition party in Japan has more support, according to a news survey, than the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Mr. Aso’s troubles come as the Japanese economy is in its worst shape in years, his finance minister recently resigned after appearing to be drunk at a public function, and his own party has asked him to resign.

In late morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥96.745 to the US dollar while it was at ¥123.352 to the euro.

The greenback, meanwhile, weakened in relation to the euro, trading at $1.275 to the shared currency at just after 11 a.m. in New York on concerns that the recession is getting worse in the US.