Tuesday, 24 Aug 2010

Yen Reaches New Highs versus USD, EUR

The Yen advanced to the strongest level since June 1995 against the U.S Dollar as concern the global economic recovery is slowing boosted demand for safer assets. The USD rose to a 6 week high versus the EUR. The two safe heaven currencies were boosted further by expectations that sales of U.S home sales declined and German consumer confidence dropped.

There release of existing U.S. homes sales today at 14:00 GMT is expected to show a 13% drop to a 4.65 million annual rate in July. The release of the Ifo institute's German business climate index tomorrow at 8:00 GMT is expected to show a decline to 105.8 in August from 106.2 the previous month.

Japan's currency appreciated to 106.11 per EUR, the highest since Sept. 24, 2001, and is currently trading at 106.30 from 107.79 in New York yesterday. It advanced to 84.22 per USD from 85.16, after earlier touching 84.16, the strongest since June 28, 1995. The U.S Dollar climbed to $1.2624 per EUR, the strongest since July 13. The British Pound declined to $1.5385 from $1.5512 yesterday. However, it has rebounded slightly, to currently trade at $1.5415.

Crude Oil futures extended continued to decline, breaking below $73 a barrel as the U.S. Dollar strengthened against the EUR and concerns over the pace of global economic recovery. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at $72.44 a barrel at 06:26 GMT