Thursday, 25 Feb 2010

Yen Makes Huge Strides on EUR Woes

The Yen advanced against all 16 major counterparts today after Standard & Poor's said Greece faces further downgrades as early as next month. The Yen climbed to a one-year high against the EUR as investors sought safe heaven appeal of the Japanese currency amid fears Greece's credit rating will be lowered.

The EUR is currently at $1.3493 from $1.3525 and at ¥120.62 from ¥121.95 late Wednesday in New York. The Dollar was down at ¥89.33 from ¥90.17. The Pound came under selling pressure earlier today as new data showed that business investment in the U.K. fell 5.8% in the last quarter of 2009. The pound fell to $1.5314 from $1.5398.

The markets are availing the release of U.S core Durable Goods Orders and Unemployment Claims, due to be released at 13:30 GMT. If results are as expected it may boost market sentiment, giving a much needed push to higher yielding currencies. Traders should also follow the continuation of Bernanke's testimony at 14:00 GMT.