Yen strengthens on risk avoidance

Yen strengthens on risk avoidance

Story link: Yen strengthens on risk avoidance

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The Japanese yen strengthened Wednesday on a flight from risk after the first of the quarterly reports from corporations were disappointing and on new data from Europe, but expectations that Japan will report another drop in machinery orders tomorrow could limit the currency’s gains.

At just past 11 a.m. in New York the yen traded at ¥132.4705 to the euro and at ¥100.055 to the US dollar, while it took $1.324 to buy a euro.

German exports were reported down, while the UK’s economy contracted by 1.5 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The flight from risk hurt the Australian and New Zealand dollars, with the Aussie also being hurt by a report that there were fewer approvals for home loans than expected in Australia in February, with approvals up by only 0.4 percent rather than the anticipated 2 percent rise.

In addition, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to 3 percent Tuesday, the lowest in nearly a half-century.

At late morning in New York, it took 70.96 cents US to buy an Australian dollar while the New Zealand dollar was worth 57.76 cents US and the yen traded at ¥71.0013 to the Aussie and at ¥57.7572 to the New Zealand currency.