Yen Plummets Ahead of Data
The yen plummeted today against the dollar
and the euro, falling to new record lows against the European currency.
The dollar also rose against the euro, on strength from a positive unemployment
report from early in the day.
Fewer initial jobless claims were filed last week in the U.S., but total jobless
numbers could point to some weakness in growth. Accelerating business costs and
housing sector fears could lead to staff reductions across the country, leading
some investors to fear that next week’s employment reports could evidence
weakness. Despite the soft aspects of the report, the dollar rallied on the
news.
Consumer confidence in Germany and France rose
last month, helping to push the euro to new highs against the yen. The euro has
been breaking new records against the yen for weeks now, but the dollar managed
to stave off euro strength, on positive sentiment from the morning U.S.
unemployment report.
The yen slid on anticipation of weakness in a
string of major economic reports from Japan, including industrial production,
retail sales and CPI data. Watch those reports for market-moving data.
Right now
FXrpm
has been at levels 1 and 2 practically all day in the EUR/JPY and
USD/JPY, evidencing major yen weakness across the board. Click
here
to learn more about how to use TheFXMarkets FXrpm.
FXrpm levels as of 3:00 PM ET
John Lee
Associate Editor