Dollar, euro surge against yen in Asian trading

People walk past an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo. AP

TOKYO—The dollar and euro rallied against the yen in Asia on Tuesday as Japanese central bank policymakers prepare to meet, under pressure to launch more economic stimulus as the economy falters.

In midday Tokyo trade, the dollar jumped to 104.82 yen, its highest level since January, and up from 104.27 yen in Europe, while the euro surged to 137.47 yen against 136.94 yen. US markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day weekend.

The greenback also added to recent gains against the euro as the European Central bank also heads into a policy meeting this week. The single currency was at $1.3116 in Tokyo, from $1.3133 in Europe.

Japan and the eurozone have both recorded poor economic data recently, boosting expectations of further monetary easing, which would tend to weaken their respective currencies.

At the same time the US Federal Reserve is being urged in some quarters to hike interest rates — which would lift the dollar — as the economy shows regular signs of getting back on track. Eyes are on the release Friday of US jobs data, which is expected to show further improvement.

Osamu Takashima, chief FX strategist at Citigroup Global Markets Japan, said in a note that recent weakness in the yen suggests dealers “have quietly started factoring in the BoJ’s additional monetary easing”.

Yosuke Hosokawa, head of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank’s forex sales team, acknowledged that speculation over BoJ easing was a factor in the dollar-yen rate’s moves, although he added that it was “not the main factor behind today’s trade”.

“Selling pressure on the euro ahead of the ECB meeting pushed up the dollar, which maintained its strength against other currencies, including the yen,” Hosokawa said.

“Plus, it’s hard for players to sell the dollar ahead of the payroll figures this week, which is also sustaining the dollar’s strength.”

Dealers were also tracking media reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s expected cabinet shuffle Wednesday would see Yasuhisa Shiozaki put in charge of the health, labor and welfare ministry, which oversees Japan’s massive public pension fund.

Shiozaki is reportedly in favour of shifting more of the bond-heavy fund’s assets into stocks.

“Some large domestic institutions are said to be buying dollars, selling yen, and buying Nikkei futures on these reports,” an equity-trading director at a European brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.

“The buying may be speculative, but the implications of the Abe move, if true, will be a further ‘politicization’ of the financial market, which is fundamentally bullish for stocks and bearish for the yen.”

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