Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The US Dollar (USD) steadied against the remained under pressure against the Japanese Yen (JPY) on Friday but stayed near the 15 year low hit last week.
Assets with less risk such as government bonds, the yen and the Swiss Franc (CHF) benefited from concerns about the US economy.
On Monday, the Euro (EUR) slipped as new Euro zone data added to concerns over the economy. Investors also changed their focus back towards the Euro zone away from the US economy.
The EUR fell to a six-week low against the USD to trade around USD 1.2602 and then to USD 1.2479, lowest since July.
The Japanese Yen rose to a 15-year high (JPY 83.72 per USD) against the Greenback and a nine-year peak versus the EUR on Tuesday amid global economic fears of slowing down, according to reports.
Weaker stock markets helped buoy the JPY against the majors while narrowing differentials between US Treasuries and Japanese government bond yields dragged the greenback down against the JPY.
The EUR also fell to 105.44 yen, its lowest since November 2001. The EUR fell to a record low against the CHF on the same day amid safe haven buying of the Swiss currency.
The USD went as low as 1.0293 francs. On Wednesday, the US July existing home sales data showed a slump in housing sector. The weaker-than-expected new home sales data also supported the earlier data.
With heightened fears of a renewed economic downturn in the world’s largest economy swayed away the investors from the riskier higher yielding investments. Germany’s improved business morale buttressed the EUR to strengthen against other currencies. The EUR further recovered from the nine year low against the JPY.
BBN/SI/AD-27Aug10-9:46 pm (BST)
